This year’s Jacobs School of Music opera season ended with a bang – a stellar performance of Bizet’s Carmen – on April 26. It was a night to savor and remember for many reasons.
The evening began with a warm pre-performance welcome from David Henry Jacobs Bicentennial Dean Abra Bush. She made a point of acknowledging first-time operagoers and noting that the IU Musical Arts Center was filled – up to and including the third balcony. She also talked a bit about conductor Louis Lohraseb, who has established himself as a nationally and internationally respected conductor. Dean Bush mentioned that Maestro Lohraseb had for some time been an IU Doctor of Music student and had completed almost all of his degree requirements a good while ago. Events conspired to enable him to complete his degree work while he was here rehearsing for Carmen, and he is now Dr. Louis Lohraseb, DM.
Carmen was an evening of fantastic musicianship and acting. Dr. Lohraseb conducted without a score and started the overture off at a properly brisk but measured pace, leaving room for the accelerandos during the Flamenco dancing later in Act 2 to have meaning and create excitement. He is well known for his sensitive interpretations of Carmen and properly so. The orchestra did need a few minutes right at the start to settle in, which one is inclined to attribute to excitement. The orchestra then went on to a tremendously tasteful and well played evening. The score to Carmen deserves the beloved place it holds in the hearts of listeners and the orchestra was up to every note in the score. Each of the orchestra sections played with flair and great musicality, but one has to single out the Bassoons for particular praise. It’s possible that somewhere in opera there exists a more melodious stretch of writing for the Bassoons than Bizet provides in Carmen. I can’t think of one off the top of my head.
Costumes, set, and stage directing were all as good as one will ever find at any major opera house. As regards stage direction, I am not in general a fan of large variations from the original dramatic intentions and directions. Director Keturah Stickann added a novel and empowering twist at the end of what we see of Carmen’s story. I was impressed. Every woman I spoke to after the performance mentioned the ending in approving tones.
At the end of the performance the audience sprang up to deliver a well-earned standing ovation.
As regards the singing, let me begin by dispensing with things one often has to mention in a review of student performances: ability to project and pitch. I didn’t hear a significant problem in pitch all night long, and each singer’s voice amply filled the IU Musical Arts Center (MAC). This was a cast as consistently good as any I have ever heard on the MAC stage – and that is saying a lot given that I have been in the audience for almost four decades. As for lead roles, all singers offered performances that belied their status as students.
Josh Hooker was extremely effective as Don Jose. Of the lead roles, I believe that it is often Don Jose that student performers find most difficult. The role doesn’t quite have the smash hits given to Carmen and Escamillo. It takes a lot to portray this role in a way that rounds him out as a character rather than a caricature. Mr. Hooker performed this role memorably, with a voice that showed both nuance and strength.
Yoori Choi embodied the role of Micaela with grace and compassion. This is another role that holds dramatic and vocal challenges. Ms. Choi has a clear and sonorous voice, and she gave this important character her rightful place in the drama and music of this opera.
Robert Wente admirably sang and acted the part of Escamillo. He had a great turn in the supporting role of Gerhard in the season-opening “Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay.” Given a leading role, he was better able to display his considerable talents. He is clearly well on his way to a successful professional career in opera.
Maya Davis portrayed Carmen in Saturday night’s performance. Oh. My. God. What a voice. And what acting ability. Her voice is rich, clear, and full – as she has shown earlier. Carmen is a role that makes careers for Mezzos. I could blather on for pages just about her voice. You get the point. And then there is her acting. One of two things is true: her artistry comes to her as easily to her as it looks, or she works very hard to make her artistry look completely effortless. Everything from her walk to the batting of her eyes provided a very personal take on a well-known character, allowing Ms. Davis to make this character truly her own.
The supporting cast and chorus all performed admirably and with great musicianship. The dancers deserve a special shout out.
I am quite sorry that schedules prevented me from seeing both casts of this wonderful opera. I have heard many of the singers in the other cast. Ester Jo, who sang Carmen at two of the four performances this year, has always impressed and I would like to have heard and seen her take on the role of Carmen in particular. Once upon a time it used to make sense to talk about a “1st” and “2nd” cast. Those days are long gone. For a good while now it has more been the case that there were two excellent casts in every opera, each presenting their own take on a work. That IU can do this is a credit to all.
A few final notes and then a call to action!
For those who think it important that IU educational offerings match job needs of Hoosiers, let me point out that Robert Wente is from Munster and Maya Davis is from South Bend. Regional talent includes one other singer from Ohio, one from Michigan, and two from Kentucky. Several of these artists are already clearly on their way to very successful musical careers. And let me also note that while not everyone in the voice program goes on to a career as a musical performer, there is a lot to be said for experiencing the joy of making music. For some students, being a part of a near-professional quality performance on stage at the MAC will be the pinnacle of their performance career. That is still a lot to be learned from participating in a performance such as the four performances of Carmen offered by IU – life lessons in courage, preparation, managing your fear, loving that which is beautiful, and trying to do your best in an effort that takes hundreds of people to pull off. These lessons in life will aid the lifelong success of every student on stage, behind stage, or in the pit at these performances. I can say that from my experience as a manager, having hired several ex-music majors over the years. I can say that from my experience as a performer as well, even though I never made it to a venue anywhere near as great as the MAC.
How good was this performance, really? My wife and I recently heard Carmen at the Met, with Yannick Nézet-Séguin at the podium. If someone told me that next Saturday I would be given my choice of hearing Nézet-Séguin conduct Carmen at the Met or hearing another offering of the performers I heard last Saturday at the MAC, I’d pick the MAC. Not that one never notices that the performers are students. But I’ll take Maestro Lohraseb’s approach to Carmen over Maestro Nézet-Séguin’s any day. I thought the stage direction by Keturah Stickann was more interesting and gave a richer story than the Met production. And the energy of the performers in the MAC was compelling.
This opera season started with a bang, ended with a bigger bang, and was on the whole successful in between. That bang at the beginning was enabled by Dean Bush, who snapped up the opportunity to have IU offer the first public performances of “The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay.” (This wonderful new opera will be performed at the Met this coming fall.)
Dean Bush is endearingly comfortable and open in front of an audience of listeners. Her commitment to opera and her love of her students are clear. That she and her faculty colleagues continue to be able to attract such great student talent is reason to have hope for the future of opera at IU. I should also note that Dean Bush spoke as if she had little or nothing to do with the seemingly magical confluence of events that allowed Mr. Louis Lohraseb to become Dr. Louis Lohraseb. It’s always best to take a Dean at her word. But one suspects she had a bigger role than she let on, and if so, good for her.
Dean Bush is not afraid to experiment, and experimentation is needed if opera is to continue to build audiences and survive in the long run. The 25-26 Jacobs opera season will be exciting, with a mix of longstanding favorites and some works that are new or new to IU. There are also two concert performances of classical vocal works – a concert performance of the first act of Die Walküre early in the season, and the American oratorio The Ordering of Moses in the spring of 2026. Notably, there are new options for performance days and times.
If you didn’t see Carmen at IU, you missed out. Don’t miss out next year – get yourself in person or electronically to the MAC ticket office and get tickets for next year. If you are a subscriber, you can purchase tickets now. If not and you want to get in on the fun, you can purchase tickets starting May 1 – as many or as few as you wish. Online information is at https://operaballet.indiana.edu/events/2025-26/index.html