Opera Columbus has announced its 2023-24 season featuring four productions.

The season opens with Bizet’s “Carmen” starring Tesia Kwarteng in the title role. The 90-minute production explores sexual freedom, social hierarchies, and the class system and will also see the return of Adam Diegel as Don Jose. “Carmen” will be stage directed by 2022-23 CRANE Directing Fellow, Sarah Dahnke, and conducted by Dr. Everett McCorvey with the Columbus Symphony performing.

Performance Dates: Sept. 2023

Tchaikovsky’s “Eugene Onegin” will be stage directed by Rosetta Cucchi, Artistic Director of the Wexford Festival, and conducted by Rossen Milanov, music director of the Columbus Symphony.

Performance Dates: March 2024

The season will continue with one of its boldest experiments of the company. Set in an undisclosed, speakeasy-like location, Opera Columbus presents “The Temple, A Magic Flute Experience.”

“It’ll still be Mozart’s beautiful music that everybody’s familiar with, but we’re changing the narrative so that the women are not victims,” Noulin-Mérat shared in an official press release.

“The Temple” will feature a new, English-language libretto updating the opera’s story and characters making it an inclusive and accessible to contemporary audiences. This production will be directed by SpiegelWorld/ Cirque du Soleil’s Allegra Libonati and conducted by Columbus-based multi-disciplinary artist Que Jones and a collaboration with the People’s Circus.

Performance Dates: April 2024

The season concludes with the Cooper-Bing Competition, which will be celebrating its 40th anniversary. Five finalists will compete for the grand prize of $10,000 and the competition will be emceed by Christopher Purdy.

Performance Dates: May 2024