Georges Bizet [Bee-zeh] was from Paris, France. Bizet showed great musical promise as a young boy. His father was a voice teacher and his mother was a pianist. At age 4, he was taught notes on the piano as he was taught the notes/letters of the alphabet. Bizet entered a music conservatory before he was 11 years old and he proved to be a brillant piano student. He composed his own music for the piano and had a great beginning as a composer. After such a strong and focused beginning as a musician, Bizet later experienced much disappointment as a composer, with little public acclaim. As a result, he would often abandon projects, for lack of self-confidence. Financially, Bizet struggled. The turning point in Bizet's mediocre career was when he wrote an opera titled, "Camen." This opera became that much-needed success soon after it opened on March 3, 1875. Bizet became ill from cardiac complicaations with a reacurring throat ailment and died June 3rd. His death, as he was finally coming into his prime as a composer, dealt a heavy blow to French music. Bizet was a composer of the Romantic period.