Ocean City Pops Presents Carmen Highlights

OCEAN CITY – The Ocean City Pops Orchestra, William Scheible, Artistic Director, presents highlights of Bizet’s masterpiece Carmen on Sun., Aug. 21 at 8:00 p.m. at its historic performance venue, The Music Pier, located at Moorlyn Terrace and the Boardwalk.
Joining the POPS will be singers Colleen Daly, Norman Garrett, Mo El Zein, Carla Dirlikov, and choral accompaniment will be provided by the Doug Murdoch Singers.
Tickets are available for $20/12 at http://ocnj.tix.com or by calling the box office at 609-525-9248. Full information an all POPS concerts and events is available at www.oceancitypops.org and please visit us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/OceanCityPops.
Carla Dirlikov was recently described by Opera Magazine as having “the most compelling voice of the evening, one that grabbed the heartstrings with its dramatic force and musicality.” In the past two seasons, she made her European opera debut as Principessa Eboli in Don Carlo with the Opera Royal de Wallonie in Belgium, and made her European concert debut in Rossini’s Stabat Mater and Beethoven’s Kantate auf den Tod Kaiser Josephs II at the Spoleto Festival in Italy under the direction of Mo. Steven Mercurio.
Soprano Colleen Daly is rapidly emerging as a “dramatically powerful” (The Washington Post) singer in today’s operatic arena. Miss Daly’s wide range of roles includes Musetta in Des Moines Metro Opera’s production of La Bohème, the Countess in Annapolis Opera’s production of Le Nozze di Figaro, the title roles in Opera Delaware’s production of La Traviata, The Academy of Vocal Arts’ productions of Lucia di Lammermoor, La Traviata, Kát’a Kabanová, and Manon, and in Opera Vivente’s production of Alcina; Cleopatra in Giulio Cesare with the Maryland Opera Studio, Micaëla in La Tragédie de Carmen with Olney Theatre Center for the Arts, Die Königin der Nacht in Die Zauberflöte with Opera New Jersey and the Annapolis Opera and Symphony Orchestra.
Norman Garrett, baritone, is a native of Lubbock, TX. Norman has a BM in vocal performance from Texas Tech University. Most recently received his MM in voice from CCM, The College-Conservatory of Music at the University of Cincinnati. Mr. Garrett was consistently cast in main stage roles at CCM. Those roles include Bertrand – from Dangerous Liaisons, Thoas – from Iphigénie en Tauride, Reporter 1 – Miss Lonelyhearts (Midwest Premiere), and Alcindoro – La Bohème.
Mo El Zein, hailing originally from Beirut, Lebanon, is a resident artist at the prestigious Academy of Vocal Arts in Philadelphia. He recently performed the role of Luigi in Puccini’s Il Tabarro in Philadelphia at the Kimmel Center for Performing Arts in which the review from the Philadelphia newspaper the Chestnut Hill Local said of him: “Tenor Mo El Zein intensely invested in the role of Luigi with reckless abandon….most certainly thrilling to see and hear.”