PORTLAND – On Saturday, March 31 at 8 p.m. and Sunday, April 1 at 3 p.m. Carl Orff’s 20th century masterpiece, Carmina Burana, will once again be performed on stage at Portland’s Merrill Auditorium with chorus, ballet and orchestra. This is a joint production presented by The Choral Art Society and Portland Ballet Company. Tickets are available through PortTix, 207-842-0800, and are $17.00 – $77.00.

Carmina Burana will feature three guest soloists, Phillip Lima, Rockland Osgood and Andrea Matthews, who replaces Ashley Emerson. Matthews has won the enthusiastic praise of audiences as well as critics for her work in opera, concert, recital, and recording. Among her operatic roles are Gilda in Rigoletto, Euridice in Gluck’s Orfeo ed Euridice, Susanna in Marriage of Figaro, Marie in Bartered Bride, Gretel in Hansel and Gretel, which she performed during her engagement with the Aachen Opera in Germany, as well as on tour in Spain, Portugal, and Paris, France. A native of Needham, MA, and graduate of Princeton University, Matthews is a certified teacher of the Alexander Technique and the editor of ExChange, the journal of Alexander Technique International. She is also a member of the Voice Faculty at Wellesley College.

Lima has sung a wide array of challenging operatic roles across the country. A frequent oratorio and concert soloist, Lima has appeared as a featured artist at the Eastern Music Festival and with the Handel & Haydn Society, Boston Baroque, Canterbury Choral Society, Harvard University Collegium Musicum, San Diego Chamber Orchestra, and the Memphis Symphony, among others.

Osgood has distinguished himself in a wide variety of musical idioms from the baroque to contemporary compositions. He has appeared with many local ensembles, including the Boston Symphony, Cantata Singers, Back Bay Chorale, Boston Cecilia, The Spectrum Singers, and The Handel and Haydn Society.

For more information about this event and others, call the Choral Art Society office, 207-828-0043 or Portland Ballet, 207-772-9671. Information is also on their websites: www.portlandballet.org and www.choralart.org.