Students & Teachers:Opera for All
HIGHLIGHTS
| 2007 | 2005 | 2004 | 2003 | 2002 | 2001 |
December 5: Opera Theater Workshop for Teens
Chicago Opera Theater's Opera Theater Workshop for Teens through After School Matters presented their winter concert on Wednesday, December 5, 2007 at the First United Methodist Church at the Chicago Temple. The twenty-three apprentices performed excerpts from Mozart's thrilling opera Don Giovanni, some beloved Italian art songs, arias and duets, and provided a preview of their spring production of the witty Gilbert & Sullivan favorite Pirates of Penzance. The second half of the evening was a condensed, yet fresh presentation of Handel's Messiah. Joining these talented high school apprentices were stunning solos from three members of COT's prestigious Young Artist Program, Brad Benoit, tenor, Julia Elise Hardin, mezzo-soprano and Ashley Ryan, soprano giving the high school apprentices a first hand view at what their future might hold. The final Hallelujah chorus brought the crowd to their feet where all celebrated the hard work of COT's high school apprentices, Teaching Fellows and Young Artists. We hope you caught the footage of this performance on Chicago's Channel 7 news. If not take a peek at our program and we hope to see you on April 15 or 16, 2008 for the Opera Theater Workshop for Teens presentation of Pirates of Penzance!
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April 15 and 16, 2008
Chicago Opera Theater’s Opera Workshop for Teens presents Gilbert and Sullivan’s Pirates of Penzance at the Storefront Theater. (Free and open to the public)
2007
Pizza and Monteverdi: Italian Night for Teens
On Friday, March 30, Chicago Opera Theater hosted 19 high school students at a pre-opera dinner with special guest speaker Jerry Fuller. The students and their instructors, Teaching Fellows A.J. Wester and Francesco Milioto, attended The Return of Ulysses as part of COT’s Opera Theater Workshop for Teens at After School Matters.
Mr. Fuller is an early music specialist who plays the bass viol in the Ulysses orchestra. He spoke to the students about Monteverdi and period instruments over a Giordano’s pizza dinner around COT’s conference room table.
Following dinner we walked to the Harris and were treated to another talk, this one by Director Diane Paulus and Associate Director Andrew Eggert, who spoke about COT’s production of the opera. The students peeked into the orchestra pit to view theorbos and harpsichords before taking their seats. All reports from the students point to a successful evening – they loved the opera and can’t wait to come back to Chicago Opera Theater!
COT Goes to the Dogs
On March 19, 20, and 21, COT Young Artist Anne Grazyk Druce read a special book to grade-school children at 3 Chicago Public Schools. This new partnership between COT and Sit Stay Read! creates unique learning opportunities for students learning to read with the stimulus of a dog in the classroom. Following the canine-in-class sessions a professional comes in to visit and reads a book that involves a dog and his/her career. The Dog Who Sang At The Opera is based on a true story and was the delight of all students hearing Anne sing and then read to them.
Alice in Wonderland - Opera Theater Workshop for Teens
In 2006-07 COT began a new partnership with After School Matters at Gallery 37. The workshop included 21 students from high schools across the city. In a fall and spring workshop of ten weeks each, the students studied singing, acting, and staging. They painted sets and memorized their roles in classic opera scenes. The spring finale was a production of Robert Schauls’ Alice in Wonderland performed at the Studio Theater in the Chicago Cultural Center. The students played to a packed house and to roars of applause for their excellent performances.
The scope of our outreach program has ranged from first-rate school productions to operatic extravaganzas in which students work and perform alongside professional opera singers and crewmembers.
The following are highlights from previous collaborations between Chicago Opera Theater's stellar cast & crew and our partner schools in the Chicago community.
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In 2006-07 COT began a new partnership with After School Matters at Gallery 37. The workshop included 21 students from high schools across the city. In a fall and spring workshop of ten weeks each, the students studied singing, acting, and staging. They painted sets and memorized their roles in classic opera scenes. The spring finale was a production of Robert Schauls’ Alice in Wonderland performed at the Studio Theater in the Chicago Cultural Center. The students played to a packed house and to roars of applause for their excellent performances.
2005
Finding Yolanda
by Pyotr Il’yich Tchaikovsky
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| Tiffany Hill and Danotra Harris
play supporting roles. |
Our Production. This production was adapted to be set in an urban private school, and starred our Young Artists in addition to a CPS student chorus and student performed supporting roles.
2004
The Impresario
by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
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| Brian Herriott sings the role of The Impresario |
About the Opera. This one-act comedy tells the hilarious tale of a theater director struggling to deal with show troubles of fighting actors and the like.
Our Production. In March of 2004, Opera for All hit the road and traveled to 10 Chicago area schools with an edgier and revised production of The Impresario. Inspired by daytime talk show television, the production featured a flamboyant Impresario host and two dueling sopranos as guests. Students in the audience were asked to make decisions regarding lighting, costuming, and set design—making for an all around fun & educationally stimulating operatic experience!
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| From left: Adam Benkendorf
(Pepicek), Jan Heyn-Cubacub (Mother) and Olivia Doig (Aninku) in
COT'sproduction of Hans Krasa's Brundibár. |
Our Production. Opera for All is proud to have collaborated with some of America's foremost theater practitioners. Our production of Brundibár was based on a new English translation by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Tony Kushner, and featured set designs and costumes by the children's illustrator Maurice Sendak (Where the Wild Things Are). COT resident conductor Alexander Platt led a public school student cast.
2002
She Never Lost a Passenger
by Susan Kander
About
the Opera. She Never Lost A Passenger is a one-act opera about the life of the Underground Railroad champion Harriet Tubman.
Our Production. Six performances of She Never Lost a Passenger were held in February of 2002 at the Field Museum's James Simpson Theater. Nearly 70 students from our partner schools contributed to this production. In less than two weeks, Chicago Opera Theater sold more than 3,000 tickets and maintained a waiting list of more than 1,500 for this student performance. Nearly 400 tickets were donated to partner school children and families. The performance was broadcast on WFMT Fine Arts Radio, bringing the story of Harriet Tubman and this phenomenal performance to an even larger audience.
2001
Noah's Flood
by Benjamin Britten
About the Opera. A one-act 45-minute opera based on the Judeo-Christian story of Noah and the Great Flood.
Our Production. Two hundred and forty-four students contributed to the creation and production of this opera. Students worked alongside professional singers, orchestra members, directors, and designers to create a truly participatory, hands-on learning experience.
