UA Students and Professors to Perform La Bohème in Anniversary Concert

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Emotions run wild, tensions are thick, and hearts break on most fall weekends in Tuscaloosa, but on the second weekend of November, it won’t just be on the football field.

La Bohème will be performed in the Moody Music Building Concert Hall at The University of Alabama Friday, Nov. 11 at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday, Nov. 13 at 2 p.m.

The production will be recorded by the Center for Public Television to be broadcast by Alabama Public Radio and WVUA Television Channel 7 to commemorate UA’s Center for Public Television and Radio’s 50th anniversary and Alabama Educational Television’s 1955 broadcast of La Bohème, the first ever live broadcast of an opera on American television.

First performed at La Scala, La Bohème is the bittersweet tale of love found and lost amidst the often carefree lifestyles of 19th century Paris.

“This opera is about real people,” said James Taylor, assistant professor of music at UA. “And that’s reflected in our diverse cast – singers and instrumentalists, students and professors. Half of the cast is African-American, which is rare in an opera production.”

UA’s performance is a joint endeavor by the UA Opera Theatre, directed by Taylor; the Huxford Symphony Orchestra, directed by professor Carlton McCreery; the University Singers, directed by associate professor John Ratledge; and University Chorus, directed by assistant professor Julie Skadsem.

Ticket prices for the concerts are $20 for general admission and $10 for seniors and students. They are available for purchase at the box office at 205/348-7111.

The UA School of Music is part of the College of Arts and Sciences, the University’s largest division and the largest public liberal arts college in the state. Students from the college have won numerous national awards including Rhodes Scholarships, Goldwater Scholarships and memberships on the “USA Today” Academic All American Team.