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

The concert will feature music from three Verdi operas—“I Lombardi,” “Don Carlo,” and “Rigoletto”—alongside 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 admired Verdi for treating the chorus as a character in his stories, giving them beautiful melodies, thrilling drama, and captivating theatre,” said conductor Anne Marie Ketchum in a press release. “Both Verdi and Bizet were towering masters of 19th-century opera, composing some of their greatest works simultaneously, and both were exquisite melody creators. While we often include excerpts from Verdi’s operas in our concerts due to his extensive repertoire, this performance will also feature selections from Bizet’s two most famous operas—‘The Pearl Fishers,’ written in 1864, and ‘Carmen,’ completed in 1875, the year of his death.”