(Credit: The Verdi Chorus)

The Verdi Chorus is set to present “We Are Verdi Bizet” on Nov. 16 and 17, 2024 at the First Presbyterian Church in Santa Monica.

The showcase will feature music from three Verdi operas – “I Lombardi,” “Don Carlo,” and “Rigoletto” – to go along with two Bizet classics – “Carmen” and “The Pearl Fishers.”

Soloists include soprano Shana Blake, mezzo-soprano Audrey Babcock, tenor Todd Wilander, and baritone Malcolm MacKenzie.

“I have always loved Verdi for the fact that he treats the chorus as a character in his stories – giving them beautiful melody, exciting drama, and arresting theatre,” said Conductor Anne Marie Ketchum in an official press release. “Both Verdi and Bizet were towering masters of the 19^th century opera scene. They were writing some of their greatest masterpieces at the same time, and both were exquisite composers of melody. Though we program excerpts from Verdi’s operas for almost every concert we present, since his output was so great, in this concert we are also performing excerpts from Bizet’s two most famous operas, ‘The Pearl Fishers,’ written in 1864, and ‘Carmen’ written in 1875, the year he died.”

The performance on Nov. 16 kicks off at 7:30 p.m. while the one on the 17 starts at 4 p.m. local time.