Franklin Performing Arts Company Announces Free Family Concert Series Opera for Kids

The Franklin Performing Arts Company (FPAC) will present Opera for Kids: Little Red Riding Hood on Sunday, March 17, at 1:00 p.m. at the Franklin School for the Performing Arts (FSPA), 38 Main Street. This special program is the third presentation in FPAC's Family Concert Series and is offered free to the community. Opera for Kids and all FPAC Family Concerts are especially geared toward young audiences in length and format.

Set to the masterful music of American composer Seymour Barab, Little Red Riding Hood brings the classic children's fairy tale to life. Engaging audiences of all ages, the opera is under 45 minutes in length and is in rhymed verse. The performance features three members of FSPA's voice faculty, Shauna Martin, Mariko Matsumura and Edwin Milham. Erica Glenn will accompany the vocalists.

A member of the FSPA Music Faculty since 2006, Shauna Martin received her master's degree in Opera from the University of British Columbia. Her performances include a wide variety of operatic and musical theater roles in works by classical as well as contemporary composers. A native of Winnipeg, Canada, Martin is a founding member of the humorous and popular children's show Opera Night in Canada and has performed with Canada's regional orchestras.

A native of Tokyo, Japan, Mariko Matsumura received her bachelor's degree in Vocal Performance, with high honors, from the University of Montana and a master's degree in Vocal Performance from Longy School of Music. Mariko's performance credits include Messiah, Aida, Hansel and Gretl, Der Rosenkavalier, The Magic Flute and numerous premiere performances throughout the Boston area. Mariko has been a member of the FSPA faculty since 2002.

Edwin Milham has performed as vocalist with such organizations as LiveARTS Concert Series, the Lowell Opera Company, the Merrimack Valley Broadway Ensemble, the Savoyard Light Opera Company, the Newport Music Festival and the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra. Ed holds master's degrees in Voice from New England Conservatory of Music and Conducting from the University of Massachusetts. Ed began teaching at FSPA in 2004 and also teaches at Bridgewater State University and UMASS Dartmouth.

Opera for Kids will be the final performance in FPAC's 2013 Family Concert Series, supported in part by a grant from the Franklin Cultural Council, a local agency supported by the Massachusetts Cultural Council, a state agency, and by Berry Insurance. For more information, contact the Franklin Performing Arts Company at (508) 528-8668 or visit www.FPAConline.com.