Carmen in Carrboro

Many students cringe when they hear "Duke" and "UNC" in the same sentence – but perhaps this bit of uneasiness can be overcome by considering the intellectual and artistic benefits of collaboration between the two schools.

An instance of such collaboration was the international symposium on 19th century French opera held last weekend. Friday’s events took place at Duke, while the rest were at UNC. Organized by Duke’s Elizabeth Bartlet and UNC’s Annegret Fauser—both music professors—the event was funded largely by a prestigious grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities. Nineteen speakers from all over the globe – Australia, Germany, France, Canada, Britain, and a few locals – presented their research. According to Bartlet, the event sought to "bring together scholars who work on French opera" and provide them an opportunity "to learn from each other new methods and ways of approach."

The series of lectures covered a wide variety of topics, including costumes and set designs in Verdi’s ‘Les Vêpres siciliennes’, the lobbying of French composers for another national opera house in the 1820’s, and French critics’ response to Bizet’s portrayal of Spain in Carmen. The organizers also hope to compile the lectures into a book. This way, scholars and students who were unable to attend will still have an opportunity to benefit from the symposium.

Saturday’s highlight was "A Soirée at Choufleuri's: Music from French Opera", a free public concert. Students and professors from both universities collaborated, resulting in an eclectic concert. Selections included portions of the operatic staple Carmen, and also lesser-known compositions such as Philémon et Baucis. The performers, clad in evening finery, sang to a full house in Hill Hall’s band-room-turned-French-parlor, complete with elegant candle-lit tables, champagne, and a grand piano. Cries of "Bravo! Bravo!" rang out after each "soirée guest" sang. Between the soaring arias and melodious duos, the soirée’s "hostess" play-acted when introducing the program, to the delight of the audience.

Fauser noted that the purpose of the symposium was to stimulate innovative ideas. "The goal of this is intangible in a way," she said, smiling. "You see these people talking to each other? It’s not just ‘Hello, how are you’; everyone already knows the material – they’re throwing around ideas and developing new ones." It is exactly this type of scholarly exchange that promotes progressiveness and erudition – yet another reason why dark blue and light blue sometimes go together rather well.