March 27 – 29, 2026
San Diego Civic Theatre
Music by Georges Bizet
Libretto by Ludovic Halévy and Henri Meilhac
The most fearless and indomitable heroine in all opera is back! When Carmen tosses a flower to the soldier Don José, he becomes obsessed, leaving his post to join her band of smugglers. But when she loses interest and sets her sights on a bullfighter, Don José may not be able to handle the rejection.
With a score packed with opera classics, including the “Habanera,” the “Toreador Song,” and one of the greatest overtures ever written, you’ll be joining Don José as you fall under the spell of Carmen.
Sung in French with English and Spanish translations projected above the stage.
Running time: Approximately 2 hours and 50 minutes including one intermission.
Season Sponsors
Prebys Foundation
City of San Diego
Lead Production Sponsor
Darlene Marcos Shiley
Buy an Opera Package and Save!
Pair Carmen with Pagliacci (Oct 31 – Nov 2), The Barber of Seville (Feb 13–15), and/or Fellow Travelers (July 10–12) and save up to 25% off single ticket prices.
3-opera packages start at $156
Melody Wilson
Carmen (Fri & Sun)
“An opera singer to watch!”
~Classical Singer Magazine
Melody Wilson
Carmen (Fri & Sun)
San Diego Opera debut.
Recent and Upcoming: Mercédès in Carmen (Seattle Opera, Cincinnati Opera); Gaea in Daphne in Concert (Seattle Opera); Musiel Byrd Jeter in Loving v. Virginia (Virginia Opera); Amneris in Aida (Union Avenue Opera); Rossweisse in Die Walküre (Dallas Symphony Orchestra); Mary in Der fliegende Holländer (Lyric Opera of Chicago); Fricka in Das Rheingold (Seattle Opera); Fenena in Nabucco (Washington Concert Opera, Union Avenue Opera); Meg Page in Falstaff (Union Avenue Opera); Olga in Eugene Onegin (Union Avenue Opera, Seattle Opera); Suzuki in Madama Butterfly (Indianapolis Opera).
Guadalupe Paz
Carmen (Sat)
“Paz presents a sound beautiful but with depth.”
~San Diego Reader
Guadalupe Paz
Carmen (Sat)
San Diego Opera highlights: Mercédès in Carmen; Frida Kahlo in El último sueño de Frida y Diego; La Maestra delle Novizie in Suor Angelica; La Mujer in El milagro del recuerdo.
Recent and Upcoming: Maddalena in Rigoletto (Ópera de Bellas Artes); Carlotta de Obragón in Zorro (Opera San José, Fort Worth Opera); Theresa Alvarez in The Listeners (Opera Philadelphia); Zerlina in La traviata (Opera Laguna); Paula in Florencia en el Amazonas (Opera San Jose); La Marchesa Melibea in Il viaggio a Reims (Ópera de Bellas Artes); Prince Orlofsky in Die Fledermaus (Ópera de Bellas Artes); Isabella in L’italiana in Algeri (Ópera de Bellas Artes).
Thomas Kinch
Don José (Fri & Sun)
“Fully in command of his music with energy throughout.”
~Parterre Box
Thomas Kinch
Don José (Fri & Sun)
San Diego Opera debut.
Recent and Upcoming: Don José in Carmen (San Francisco Opera); Melot in Tristan und Isolde (San Francisco Opera); Licinius in La vestale (Teatro Grattacielo); Man in armour in Die Zauberflöte (Welsh National Opera); B.F. Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly (Opera Bohemia, OperaUpClose); Canio in Pagliacci (If Opera); Father Grenville in Dead Man Walking (Royal Conservatoire of Scotland); Gherardo in Gianni Schicchi (Royal Conservatoire of Scotland); Sam Kaplan in Street Scene (Royal Conservatoire of Scotland); Nadir in Les Pêcheurs de Perles (Opera Bohemia).
Jonny Kaufman
Don José (Sat)
“Reminiscent of Pavarotti. Magnificent voice and
more than enough power!”
~St. Louis Post-Dispatch
Jonny Kaufman
Don José (Sat)
San Diego Opera debut.
Recent and Upcoming: Steersman in Der fliegende Holländer (Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra); Samson in Samson et Dalila (St. Pete Opera); Rodolfo in La bohème (Opera Grand Rapids, Northern Lights Music Festival, Opera Wilmington); B.F. Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly (Opera Carolina, New Orleans Opera); Don José in Carmen (Opera Western Reserve); Turiddu in Cavalleria rusticana (Opera Carolina); Malcolm in Macbeth (Opera Carolina, Toledo Opera).
Aleksey Bogdanov
Escamillo
“Bogdanov’s voice rumbles rivetingly
from top to bottom.”
~Opera News
Aleksey Bogdanov
Escamillo
San Diego Opera debut.
Recent and Upcoming: Count Monterone in Rigoletto (San Francisco Opera); Donner in Das Rheingold (Pacific Symphony); Count Capulet in Roméo et Juliette (Palm Beach Opera); Baron Scarpia in Tosca (Palm Beach Opera, Livermore Valley Opera, Arizona Opera, Austin Opera); Platon Kuzmich Kovalev in The Nose (Chicago Opera Theater); Renato in Un ballo in Maschera (Maryland Lyric Opera); Bass in Verdi’s Messa da Requiem (San Diego Symphony); Title role in Aleko (Odyssey Opera); Jack Rance in La fanciulla del West (Royal Swedish Opera); Title role in Rigoletto (Nashville Opera, Central City Opera); Andrey Shchelkalov in Boris Godunov (The Metropolitan Opera).
Lydia Grindatto
Micaëla
“A lovely and distinctive soprano, with a gorgeous
sheen in the upper octave.”
~Parterre Box
Lydia Grindatto
Micaëla
San Diego Opera debut.
Recent and Upcoming: Violetta Valéry in La traviata (Utah Opera, The Academy of Vocal Arts); Anne Trulove in The Rake’s Progress (The Glimmerglass Festival); Leonora in Il trovatore (Wexford Festival Opera); Nedda in Pagliacci (Utah Opera); Juliette in Roméo et Juliette (Palm Beach Opera); Marguerite in Faust (The Academy of Vocal Arts); Donna Anna in Don Giovanni (Merola Opera Program, Arizona Opera, The Academy of Vocal Arts); Tatiana in Eugene Onegin (Columbus Symphony, The Academy of Vocal Arts); Second Wood Sprite in Rusalka (Santa Fe Opera).
MORE CAST »
Amanda Olea
Frasquita
Amanda Olea
Frasquita
San Diego Opera debut.
Recent and Upcoming: Soloist in Four Sierra Scenes (Westwind Brass Quintet); soloist in Knoxville: Summer of 1915 (La Jolla Symphony and Chorus); Ms. Lightfoot in Fellow Travelers (Florida Grand Opera); Mexican Woman in A Streetcar Named Desire (Florida Grand Opera); Countess Ceprano in Rigoletto (Florida Grand Opera); soloist in Carmina Burana (Westmoreland Symphony Orchestra); soloist in Handel’s Messiah (Cincinnati Collegium, Lebanon Symphony Orchestra); soloist in Faure’s Requiem (San Diego Festival Chorus); soloist in Saint-Saëns’ Christmas Oratorio (San Diego Festival Chorus).
Mariam Mouawad
Mercedes
Mariam Mouawad
Mercedes
San Diego Opera debut.
Recent and Upcoming: The title role in Carmen (Shreveport Opera); the Fox in The Little Prince (Opera North); Cherubino in The Marriage of Figaro (Opera North); Tisbe in Cinderella (Fort Worth Opera); the title role in L’enfant et les sortilèges (Music Academy of the West); Dorabella in Così fan tutte (Shreveport Opera); Musetta in La bohème (Shreveport Opera).
DeAndre Simmons
Zuniga
DeAndre Simmons
Zuniga
San Diego Opera highlights: Marchese D’Obigny in La Traviata; First Soldier in Salome; Sciarrone in Tosca; The Bonze in Madama Butterfly.
Recent and upcoming: appearances: Amonasro in Aida (Portland Opera in the Park); Oroveso in Norma (New Jersey Association of Verismo Opera); Padre Guardiano in La Forza del Destino (Atlantic Opera Festival); Alidoro in La Cenerentola (Opera Philadelphia); Carbon in Cyrano (Opera Philadelphia); soloist in Mozart’s Requiem (Santa Barbara Symphony); soloist in Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony (Santa Barbara Symphony); Boatman in Sunday in the park with George (CCAE Theatricals); soloist in Verdi’s Requiem (London Symphony); Caiaphas in Jesus Christ Superstar (Moonlight Theatre); soloist in Winterreise Recital (Chicago, NYC, LA, Berlin, Paris, London); soloist in Handel’s Messiah (Grand Junction Symphony).
Ryan Wolfe
Dancairo
Ryan Wolfe
Dancairo
San Diego Opera debut.
Recent and Upcoming: Registrar in Madama Butterfly (LA Opera); Count Paris in Roméo et Juliette (LA Opera); Marullo in Rigoletto (The Santa Fe Opera); soloist in ATTENTION! (Los Angeles Philharmonic); Ping in Turandot (LA Opera); Fiorello in The Barber of Seville (LA Opera); Marchese D’Obigny in La traviata (LA Opera); Aldeano #1 in El último sueño de Frida y Diego (LA Opera); Lt. Gordon in Silent Night (Wolf Trap Opera); soloist in Kindertotenlieder (Richmond Symphony); soloist in Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 (Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra); Jailer in Tosca (LA Opera); Tarquinius in The Rape of Lucretia (LA Opera); Golaud in Impressions de Pelléas (LA Opera).
Joel Sorensen
Remendado
Joel Sorensen
Remendado
San Diego Opera highlights: Curley in Of Mice and Men; Camp Williams in Cold Sassy Tree; Andres in Wozzeck; Rodriguez in Don Quixote; Tybalt in Roméo et Juliette; Pang in Turandot; Valzacchi in Der Rosenkavalier; First Tempter/First Knight in Murder in the Cathedral; Beppe in Pagliacci; Spoletta in Tosca; Dr. Caius in Falstaff; Pong in Turandot; Witch in Hansel and Gretel; Spoletta in Tosca; Goro in Madama Butterfly; First Jew in Salome.
Recent and Upcoming: Spoletta in Tosca (San Francisco Opera and Opera San Antonio); Goro in Madama Butterfly (Nashville Opera and Cedar Rapids Opera Theatre); Beppe in Pagliacci (Greensboro Opera); Bomeliy in The Tsar’s Bride (Bard Music Festival); Spoletta in Tosca (Canadian Opera Company); Pong in Turandot, The Incredible in Andrea Chénier, Vitek in Věc Makropulos (San Francisco Opera); Madama Butterfly, Tosca, Samson et Dalila, Die Zauberflöte, War and Peace, Der Rosenkavalier, Salome, and Les contes d’Hoffmann (The Metropolitan Opera).
Søren Pedersen
Morales
Søren Pedersen
Morales
San Diego Opera highlights: Schaunard in La bohème; Prince Yamadori in Madama Butterfly; chorus member and soloist in El último sueño de Frida y Diego ; chorus member in Tosca.
Recent and Upcoming: Abbot Cuno in Hildegard (Cincinnati Opera); Marcello in La bohème (Opera À la Carte); l’Horloge and Le Chat Noir in L’enfant et les sortilèges (Chautauqua Opera Conservatory); Morales in Carmen (Wolftrap Opera); Tarquinius in The Rape Lucretia (Cincinnati College Conservatory of Music); Dr. Rappaccini in La hija de Rappaccini (Cincinnati College Conservatory of Music).
Louis Lohraseb
Conductor
"Proves why he is one of the most promising young conductors of his generation, with Classical Music Daily describing the performance as ‘a triumph … at the end [the audience] erupted into almost ten minutes of ovations."
~Naxos Music Group
Louis Lohraseb
Conductor
San Diego Opera debut.
Recent and Upcoming: Conductor – The Barber of Seville (Central City Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago); Madama Butterfly (Colorado Springs Philharmonic); Le nozze di Figaro (Sarasota Opera); Alcina (The Shepherd School of Music at Rice University); Faust (Merola Opera Program); Le nozze di Figaro (Staatsoper Hamburg); La traviata (LA Opera, Komische Opera Berlin); A Midsummer Night’s Dream (The Atlanta Opera); Thérèse (Sarasota Opera); Tosca (LA Opera); Don Giovanni (Jacobs School of Music-Indiana University); Carmen (Semperoper Dresden); La rondine (Jacobs School of Music-Indiana University); Roberto Devereux (LA Opera).
Keturah Stickann
Director
"Director Keturah Stickann enlivens the opera without distracting from the drama at its heart. She kept the stage action focused firmly on the main characters and the music."
~South Florida Classical Review
Keturah Stickann
Director
San Diego Opera highlights: Choreographer – Pagliacci; Rigoletto; Peter Grimes; Romeo and Juliet; Moby-Dick; Cruzar la Cara de la Luna; Stage Director – Don Quixote; Turandot; La bohème Drive-in Opera; The Barber of Seville Drive-In Opera; La bohème
Recent and Upcoming: Stage Director – Mosè in Egitto (Opera Southwest); Carmen (Knoxville Opera, Jacobs School of Music, Opera Colorado); Stuck Elevator (Knoxville Opera); La bohème (Chautauqua Opera Company); La traviata (Knoxville Opera); Norma (Palm Beach Opera); Samson and Delilah (Opera Colorado); Hansel and Gretel (Chautauqua Opera Festival); The Little Prince (Resonance Works); Suor Angelica (Opera Omaha); Don Giovanni (Minnesota Opera); The Merry Widow (Jacobs School of Music); The Magic Flute (Covenant College Department of Music); A Little Night Music (Arizona Opera); The Mother of Us All (Chautauqua Opera Festival); Salome (Madison Opera).
Set and Projection Design
Tim Wallace
Lighting Design
Abigail Hoke-Brady
Costume Design
Jess Goldstein
Hair and Makeup Design
Jenn Hill
Resident Conductor/Chorus Master
Bruce Stasyna
Assistant Director
Matthew Haney
Diction Coach
Emanuela Patroncini
Stage Manager
Carmen Catherine Alfaro
Supertitle Caller
Oxana Bulgakova
Assistant Stage Managers
Caitlynn Sandoval
Adrian Speth
Musical Preparation
Catherine Miller
Production Assistant
Holden Fox
Opera Uncorked
March 12 at 6:00 pm
Learn more about Carmen at Opera Uncorked, part of a fun, casual series of events exploring everything you need to know about the operas in our season. It’s the perfect evening to whet your operatic appetite just a few weeks before performances, featuring a presentation by Resident Conductor Bruce Stasyna sure to be every bit as scintillating as the wine and cheese served upon your arrival. Bruce will discuss Carmen‘s history, what to listen for, and some of the interesting challenges and fun facts about producing opera.
Pre-Performance Talk
March 27, 28, and 29
Beat the traffic and get the most out of the performance at a free 25-minute talk in the auditorium 50 minutes prior to each opera performance. It’s a great way to learn about the opera and note what to listen for!
Post-Opera Talk-Back
March 28 and 29
Immediately following the performance on Saturday and Sunday, join us in the Dress Circle seating section for an informative Q&A with San Diego Opera staff and cast members.
Corporate Sponsors
