With an impressive ability to fill an entire month of music to suit a wide range of tastes, the organizers of this year’s Natchez Festival of Music provided a combination of tradition and innovation to the well-renowned Natchez musical fête established almost 20 ago.

With staples such as Night of Stars, Command Performance, Plantation Performances, and free concerts initiated under Dr. David Blackburn, the festival’s founding artistic director and his widow, Mrs. Sara Blackburn, organizers preserved some of the most beloved and popular offerings.

This year, under the guiding hand of George Hogan, the festival’s new artistic director and Dr. Blackburn’s long-time student and notable American opera and musical performer extraordinaire in his own right; fresh, fun and flavorful ingredients also were added into the season’s mix.

First in the list, the interactive Death by Aria, a parade of brilliant vocal renditions by young apprentices and performers, was part one of a singing competition that engaged the audience in casting votes for favorite male and female performers. Part two of the competition unfolded during an original and carefully crafted evening of Broadway standards and popular operatic arias staged by Mr. Hogan entitled Broadway and Opera Highlights.

The two-part competition was designed to cultivate and further the careers of burgeoning young talent with winners slated to receive the Blackburn-Killelea Award. Named in memory of two key Natchez Festival of Music pioneers; the aforementioned Dr. David Blackburn and Dr. Don Killelea, founding board member and chairman of the board from 1999 until 2002, the Blackburn-Killelea Award consists of a cash prize and a main stage contract to be presented to the two finalists.

The winners of the award are to be announced on closing night, Saturday, following the performance of the opera Carmen with which the festival will mark the end of its 19th season.

The lecture series makes a comeback at noon Thursday. This time around the lecture ingredient will derive distinct Spanish spice and flavor from its subject matter — the opera Carmen and composer Georges Bizet’s interpretation of the Spanish world in which it is set. Surrounded by paintings of toreadors and señoritas in a characteristic Spanish setting, associate professor of music and director of Opera Studio of the School of Music at Texas Christian University Richard Estes will present the lecture in Casa España, located at 713 North Union St.

Professor Estes has directed some 35 operas and appeared on the national and international stage in over 90 operatic roles. He is making his debut in Natchez as stage director for Carmen. According to Professor Estes, “Georges Bizet’s Carmen is a product of the ‘mean streets’ of Seville.” As explained by the well-versed professor, “the gypsy quarter of 19th Century Seville was a dangerous place inhabited mostly by social renegades who lived for the moment and filled their lives with singing and dancing the Flamenco.”

Heightening the experience and accentuating Spanish traditions as well as the feel and essence of Carmen’s world of unfettered passions, Ecuador-born and Natchez resident Isabel Diez will interpret a fiery Flamenco dance for the audience during the lecture.  Isabel also is to open the dance number of Act II of Carmen — The Tavern of Lillas Pastia — during the performance of the opera on closing night.

The Natchez Festival of Music presentations this season ran the gamut of musical genres. Highlights include the Alcorn State University Concert Choir’s interpretation of Haydn’s Lord Nelson Mass and their signature repertoire of gospel and spirituals; An Evening of Jazz with Frank Ponzio and Annie Kozuch; and the romantic fable The Fantasticks, the longest running off-Broadway show in the history of the musical theater.

Carmen is a French opéra comique by Georges Bizet. The libretto by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halév, tells the tale of the gypsy Carmen, a bewitching heartbreaker who succeeds in leading a young corporal into a world of thievery after making him betray his sweetheart, family and soldier’s honor to then cast him aside in favor of a new love. The opera premiered at the Opéra-Comique of Paris on March 3, 1875. Since the 1880s it has been one of the world’s most performed operas and a staple of the operatic repertoire. This is the third time the Natchez Festival of Music is presenting the opera, which is to be followed by the closing gala to be held at Linden.

For information on how to purchase tickets for Carmen and the Closing Gala please visit www.natchezfestivalofmusic.com.

The Carmen Lecture in Casa España is free of charge and open to all. Add a little Olé! to your day with what promises to be a lively and informative lecture. As the 19th season of the Natchez Festival of Music nears its end and its 20th anniversary celebration begins, donations to the festival will be welcome.

Hope to see you there.

Analisa Therrien is a Festival of Music performer.