Madison Youth Choirs gets the opera treatment

Members of the Madison Youth Choirs and their families were treated to a special presentation by Madison Opera last night. General Director Allan Naplan offered a youth-friendly version of Opera Up Close: The Carmen Preview, featuring the music and history of Carmen and an often hilarious look at the many modern pop-incarnations of Bizet's famous music. Following the presentation, soprano Elizabeth Cabellero (Micaela) worked the crowd with "Quando me'n vò" from La Boheme. Tenor James Kryshak (Remendado) then sang "Ah! Mes amis" from La Fille du Regiment, wowing everyone with 10 high-C's and a high-D thrown in for good measure. To end the night, the artists spoke a bit about their lives as opera singers and answered questions from the young choristers, many of whom will be appearing in Carmen.