Ernest Guiraud, photograph by G. Camus, c. 1890.
Ernest Guiraud (French: [giʁo]; 23 June 1837 – 6 May 1892) was a French composer and music teacher born in New Orleans, Louisiana. He is best known for writing the traditional orchestral recitatives used for Bizet's opera Carmen and for Offenbach's opera Les contes d'Hoffmann (The Tales of Hoffmann).