It’s midday.
Unlike most operatic openings—amid the backdrop of a starry night, while patrons bedecked in jewels and fur mutter over the sounds of the orchestra tuning their instruments, eagerly awaiting the curtain to rise—today’s show waits to be unveiled to an audience of first-graders.
The children crowd onto gymnasium bleachers or find a place amid the sea of their classmates sitting on the floor, wide-eyed and curious as the first singer opens her mouth to let out a world of wonder to what will become opera’s next audience.
For both the performer and the child that sits in awe, it’s a life-altering experience.
Young artist and apprenticeship programs housed by major opera companies are a common stepping stone for emerging singers. But a handful of companies across the country have taken it a step further with programs that cater to education and outreach, providing performers with an opportunity to learn a role, get better acquainted with their voice, and master their technique—while young audiences enjoy a front-row seat to what is their first, and sometimes only, exposure to live opera.
Other programs, such as the Madison, Wis.-based Opera for the Young, put the audience of kids right in the action, including them in the chorus of reduced versions of operas sung in English and geared toward their age-group, alongside highly skilled singers.
“Our singers are teaching artists,” said Diane Garton Edie, the company’s artistic director. “This isn’t just another wrung on the ladder for them. Educating is an important part of their career and they are invested in it. That’s what we look for and what we like to see. It’s a wonderful opportunity for both sides.”
And larger established opera companies—including Des Moines Metro Opera’s youth touring program OPERA Iowa and Milwaukee’s Florentine Opera touring performances—have helped bring opera to thousands of students and families, many of whom might have never had such exposure to the art form.
Classical Singer takes a look at these companies and a few others that are helping guide the career of young artists and ignite an interest in opera for a new generation of patrons.
Opera for the Young
Based in: Madison, Wis.
Since its inception in 1970, Opera for the Young’s sole mission has been to provide a stage for young singers and its audiences to learn on. The company estimates that it has introduced more than two million children to opera, with its 2012 production of Hansel and Gretel reaching 75,000 more.
The troupe began in a rather classic way, bringing singers and a pianist to local schools to present shows. But it has since grown to a triple-cast of professional and semi-professional young singers that tour in the spring and fall, primarily throughout the Midwest, producing reduced versions of operas ideal for elementary school audiences.
Edie reworks the operas to fit within a shorter timeframe. Schools that play host to Opera for the Young are provided music and other materials for classrooms to take part in the opera. Children are given a rare, hands-on opportunity to not only see the opera but participate in it, learning the music and taking the stage as the chorus, before their classmates, teachers, and families.
“I think the mission of our program is an important one,” said Edie, who began as an opera singer. “We’re inspiring converts to this great medium of storytelling. For that reason, we like to treat every show like our best.
“We have a higher expectation of our singing artists than what you might find in other programs and treat what we do with a lot of respect and care. The singers have to deliver the goods every day and have to be well versed and light on their feet. Because it’s triple-cast, they could be performing their role opposite a different singer each week. So, it’s a good chance for them to hone their skills and become comfortable as an actor and coach a full role, rather than just an aria. And, it’s thrilling for the kids to see the work they’ve put into it come to life. For us, it’s inspiring to see a real enthusiasm [for opera] come from these young people. They see that it’s alive and exciting and are drawn to it.”
The program also provides singers with the knowledge of other production aspects, including set assembly, costuming, makeup, hair, and other artistic elements that go into creating an opera, including travel.
On the day the cast arrives at the school for the performance, members mount the set and travel to classrooms, where they lead discussions about opera and prepare students for their upcoming roles as chorus and audience members. Later in the day, the cast, along with students in chorus and cameo speaking roles, presents the opera for the school. A question-and-answer session with the cast follows each performance.
“The students are what really make the program,” Edie said. “The singers also really excel as artists and form a really tight bond. We’re always sad to see a production come to an end.”
Florentine Opera
Based in: Milwaukee, Wis.
In January, Florentine Opera launched its original children’s touring opera, The Three Little Pigs, an arts-in-education and opera performance program designed to introduce students in kindergarten through fifth grade to opera. The 45-minute production was set to the operatic melodies of Mozart, including Don Giovanni, The Marriage of Figaro, Così fan tutte, and The Magic Flute.
For the production, Florentine Opera annually employs four artist-in-residence singers through its studio artists program to sing supporting and comprimario roles in mainstage operas, as well as help the company reach its education and outreach goals, including its youth-oriented school production. Through this, the company strives to provide talented and promising young artists, just beginning their careers, with performing experience and training for career development.
This year, the quartet toured a production of The Three Little Pigs in local and regional schools and public community venues, serving more than 13,000 students and families in more than 70 performance sites.
It’s a source of encouragement for these singing hopefuls itching for experience and is a labor of love for Sarah Lewis Jones, education and outreach coordinator of the company.
“After presenting The Three Little Pigs during the 2006-2007 season and hearing fantastic feedback from teachers, students, and parents, I’m excited that we once again brought Mozart’s music and this engaging introduction to opera to area students and families,” Jones said. “For me, the best part of this program is providing a memorable opportunity that introduces opera to children—and, in some cases, their families and teachers—in a way that is exciting and accessible to everyone.”
Indianapolis Opera Ensemble
Based in: Indianapolis, Ind.
Similar in scope to Florentine Opera’s artist-in-residence program, Indianapolis Opera Ensemble—more than 20 years in the making—provides full-time employment to singers who enjoy a full schedule of constant performing from January through May. Performers are booked for two shows per day, six days per week. Their repertoire consists of several education and training opportunities, from coaching with the maestro and engaging in masterclasses with mainstage artists to singing supporting and cover roles in mainstage shows; performing in a touring concert at universities, churches, and community venues; and staging a touring opera for children.
“Our program is a lengthy one,” said Danielle Steele, director of education at Indianapolis Opera. “The aid of this program is that it prepares our singers to sing anywhere, at any time, for any group of people, under any circumstances. It makes our singers flexible and versatile. They might sing at 8 a.m. or 9 p.m. They learn to take care of and manage their voice and body. They are constantly developing new repertoire and learning on their feet.”
The touring children’s opera is a reduction of a major opera set to a popular children’s fairy tale, complete with dialogue and recognizable characters. Designed with the show is a curriculum packet sent out prior to the ensemble’s arrival at a school, allowing teachers to prepare and educate their students before they take in their first opera.
A reduction of a full-scale opera also is performed and turned into an in-depth residency, Steele said. “Students at a school perform in the opera with us as comprimario roles and chorus, and our singers play the main characters. We bring in a professional director to work with the kids as well.”
Additionally, the students are given workshops in publicity and marketing, and they build the set and props and sew costumes. “This allows kids to see fully into the world of opera,” Steele adds. “You don’t just have to be a singer to be a part of this profession.”
Steele said education and outreach provide a vital component for emerging professional singers, while helping to keep companies in the public eye when not in production and building audiences. “Companies need to do this kind of work because opera is in danger of dying in the U.S.,” she said. “Anything that companies can do to provide a point of entry for new patrons—unique and creative programming, family-friendly programming, cross collaborations with other arts organizations—is necessary.
“The reason this is so important for young singers is that they need to understand just how vital outreach and relationships with patrons are,” Steele continued. “Networking and development is what will keep their careers alive. It’s good that they get this experience, rather than just being in the bubble of a practice room or rehearsal hall.”
OPERA Iowa
Based in: Des Moines, Iowa
A subsidiary of the Des Moines Metro Opera and now in its 26th year, OPERA Iowa promotes a similar education and outreach goal for young singers and audiences. “A unique scope of our company is that we have covered nearly every
city and county in Iowa and 10 additional states,” said Michael Egel, artistic director.
The group also has toured internationally, taking performances to audiences new to opera in Japan and China. “It’s been a great calling card for us,” Egel said. “We estimate that in 26 years, we’ve brought opera to more than 700,000 new audience members. Our mission is to bring this into schools—to children and their families in the community.”
OPERA Iowa’s primary education and outreach component includes an opera geared toward elementary school students, from works like Sid the Serpent Who Wanted to Sing and Little Red Riding Hood, to classic adaptations like Mozart’s The Magic Flute.
“These types of programs are a great opportunity to expand your footprint to audiences who have never experienced or have limited access to live performances,” Egel said. “There is nothing like getting to hear, see, feel, and respond to a live opera. You can’t replicate that from a recording.”
OPERA Iowa also provides a stage for young, trained classical singers to hone their craft and serve as opera’s ambassadors. The troupe tours schools and communities for 13 weeks, offering lively performances and hands-on workshops for children, including “Let’s Make an Opera,” exploring story topics improvised by the students and running a gamut of topics from Justin Bieber to senior prom.
In addition, OPERA Iowa provides lesson plans to students and engages kids through conversation about the opera they are about to see before the performance happens. “We don’t just sing and leave,” Egel said.
He added that the hands-on nature and length of the program, along with its travel demands, prepares singers for performing under a variety of circumstances and enables them to be both educators and students of their art form.
“They may have had an opportunity to relax in the hotel or they may have been traveling in a vehicle for three hours,” Egel said. “It’s an opportunity for them to really know and understand their voices and hone their technique, as well as dig deep into evolving the drama of a character.”
Egel said the company is loyal to its apprentice artists participating in OPERA Iowa. “Young artists often wonder the best way they can break past apprenticeships and summer festivals and get into mainstage roles,” he said. “We maintain good relationships with our singers and recognize their hard work. Often, we’ll refer to and offer those bigger performance opportunities to those singers who have done a great job for us in these programs and on these tours. We like to endorse those whom we know. It’s a unique career-building opportunity and one every singer should have.”
Delaware Valley Opera
Based in: Narrowsburg, NY
Coach and stage director Carol Castel—wife of famed opera singer, diction coach, and librettist Nico Castel—understands the calling for today’s emerging performers to understand the inner workings of their craft and help spread awareness and education of it all too well, especially at Delaware Valley Opera, where she serves as artistic director.
“Most people in this area never have the opportunity to experience opera,” Castel said. “And, many singers coming out of their studies today don’t always have the opportunity to really learn a role or get the stage time and focus that they need in order to be successful. It’s not like it was in the old days. Today, many singers come out of higher education programs and have never sung a part. So, education and outreach and opportunities and the chance for singers to really study and coach a role go hand-in-hand.”
This professional company with a grassroots feel offers singers the opportunity to embrace professional development programs that focus on coaching, role study, and diction and the chance to tour throughout the Delaware Valley area, bringing opera to new audiences. Part of this is a series of performances by the company’s young artists for children, featuring opera scenes from well-known fairy tales performed in schools and community venues.
“We treat these like ‘informances,’” Castel said. “It’s our chance to really reach out into the communities, and it’s very engaging for the children. We try to encourage new audiences to come. It’s not always easy to get the word out about opera.”
Castel said the touring program aimed at younger audiences also prepares singers for life on the road, offering a stipend and providing housing and offering them additional education on having an opera career. “It gets singers started on knowing what they can expect on the job,” she said.
And, in some instances, singers get the opportunity to perform with a live orchestra—an enormous asset to helping young performers get hired, according to Castel. “We want singers to get the real, true, honest . . . performance experience,” she said. “The work is very intensive, and we hold their hands all the way through it as they come to learn a role and translate it to the stage so that it makes sense to a young or new audience. We’re taking it right to them to build an intense interest in opera.”
Central City Opera
Based in: Denver, Colo.
Central City Opera’s education and community programs tour throughout Colorado and Wyoming. The company visits communities large and small with live performances for students and families.
“All of our programs are original creations designed to enhance student curriculum and appeal to a broad audience, including opera novices, as well as those who know the genre well,” said Deborah Morrow, education and community programs director of the company. “We also offer a program called ‘Build an Opera’ which assists students in grades 3-12 in team-creating an original musical story on the subject of their choice.”
Morrow said the goal of the company is to present relevant, professional, and entertaining programs for everyone involved. “We think of every audience—student or adult—as being made up of lifelong learners and always strive to give them interesting ideas to ponder,” she said.
Central City Opera’s main event is a summer festival with artists from all over the U.S. and Europe, including a Young Artist Program. Because those artists are not available during the school year, the company employs musicians and teaching artists from various Colorado communities.
“We recruit young singers from college graduate programs, as well as veteran performers and teachers,” Morrow said. “The young singers are mentored by the more experienced artists who are, in turn, inspired by the enthusiasm of their young colleagues.”
The company also partners once a year with the University of Colorado Opera Studies program to present 10 days of touring concerts and school programs with six young artists. The company has been mentoring young artists since its inception in 1932, with touring and education initiatives getting their start in the late 1970s. The program started with approximately 25 education and community events in 1978. Today, it presents 200 events per year.
