Marchment Directs Operas at Dorset Opera Festival and Royal College of Music

Director of Opera and Associate Professor Ella Marchment, B.Mus., will direct “Le Roi de Lahore” at the Dorset Opera Festival in the United Kingdom next month. This is the first time the opera has been staged in the U.K. since 1879, according to uk.news.yahoo.com.

Marchment is joined by Dasia-Marie Mitchell ’24 (Bachelor of Music in Performance) who will serve alongside Marchment as assistant director on “Le Roi de Lahore” (The King of Lahore) by Jules Massenet. Mitchell has assisted Marchment on other productions at Shenandoah Conservatory, including “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” (Main Stage Opera with Symphony Orchestra, Spring 2023), “Hydrogen Jukebox” (Opera Up Close, Fall 2022) and “The New World of Opera” (Main Stage Opera with Symphony Orchestra, Spring 2022).

Marchment also recently directed Libby Larsen’s “Barnum’s Bird” at the Royal College of Music in London. The production also featured design work by Madeleine Boyd, who served as the guest designer for “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” and “The New World of Opera.” The Royal College of Music is the No. 1 institution for performing arts for the second year running worldwide in the QS World University Rankings guide and opera is its flagship program.