Voila Carmen...

I sometimes see alumni at AVA performances, and I recently had the great pleasure to sit next to soprano Cristina Nassif at the Jubilate! concert in New Jersey. The first thing I tell all the alums is to send me what they are up to (for the blog)…and Cristina has a tasty plateful .

The first big news might not be musical, but a great life experience - Ms. Nassif is getting married next November. Her fiancé, Jamie is also a singer, there's nothing like making beautiful music together. I know Cristina’s Mom and Dad from her days as a resident artist at AVA. She says of Jamie, “along with a beautiful baritone voice, he's got the heart, eyes and intelligence to match. I've never known a better man and my family and friends couldn't agree more or be happier for the two of us!”

They had the pleasure of singing together in Shreveport, LA, as Violetta and the Marquis in Verdi's La traviata.  From the reviews, it must have been a great production. Cristina is no stranger to Violetta, having recently sung it with Virginia Opera, Piedmont Opera, and Wichita Grand Opera.

Her exciting news for February 2009, is that she will make her London debut in the title role in Bizet's Carmen at Royal Albert Hall.  She told me that the billboards are already up in London for the production, so if you’re traveling in London, you might see her beautiful face staring back at you!

I failed to mention in a recent blog that Ms. Nassif was a 2008 first place winner of the Gerda Lissner Competition in NYC. This is the second year that Cristina has won a first place prize in this competition!

I love the story behind this photo. Cristina says, “this was taken outside the restaurant (Botin) in Madrid, shortly before he proposed!  A little FYI, he proposed to me in the same restaurant where my dad proposed to my mom back in 1971!