Sarasota Youth Opera Hosts Family Day At The Opera

On Saturday, August 20, from 12 to 2 pm, bring the whole family and come see what Sarasota Youth Opera is all about!

The whole Opera House will be abuzz with activities. Hear the Youth Opera sing, attend a "Find Your Own Opera Voice" singing session, join in fun acting games, and take a tour of the opera house. You can even get creative and make some props, have fun at the makeup table, explore the beautiful costumes, and more. This event is free to all! For more information on our fall session and our Family Day at the Opera visit our website at https://www.sarasotaopera.org/education-outreach.

For over 35 years, Sarasota Youth Opera has given youth ages 8 to 18 an opportunity to experience opera firsthand through our performance-based program. This fall, our youth performers will present Dean Burry's The Secret World of OG, complete with professional sets, costumes and orchestra on the Sarasota Opera House stage. The opera tells the charming story of the OGs, green, elfin creatures who live under the children's playhouse. The OGs have a habit of stealing any toys they want, but when they steal the children's little brother and their dog, the children must go down into the OG's subterranean world to bring them back!

The fall program starts up on August 16th, and auditions for the lead roles will be held on August 23 and 24. No prior experience is necessary, all skill levels are welcome, and all those who enroll this fall will take part in The Secret World of OG!

What: Sarasota Youth Opera Family Day
When: Saturday, August 20, 2022, from 12 to 2 pm
Where: Sarasota Opera House: 61 N. Pineapple Avenue, Sarasota, FL 34236
Tickets: FREE - details for the event can be found at https://www.sarasotaopera.org/education-outreach

Since 1984, Sarasota Youth Opera has given thousands of young people ages 8 to 18 an opportunity to experience the joy of opera firsthand through participation in fully-staged Youth Opera productions, Sarasota Opera main stage productions, summer camps, and concerts throughout the community.

Sarasota Youth Opera is the only program in the United States committed to both presenting an annual full-scale opera production for young voices, as well as accepting all who wish to participate regardless of skill level or ability to pay.

Youth Opera Choruses: Beginning at age 8, singers are placed in one of two chorus levels. Each chorus provides a setting for everyone to participate and progress at their own level as they gain greater skills and experience. Selections performed are made up of classical music, which includes opera and choral pieces in different languages. The choruses perform throughout the community in formal concerts and outreach events.

Opera Mainstage Season: Members of the Youth Opera are selected to join Sarasota Opera's Winter Festival season, appearing in the mainstage children's chorus, as supernumeraries (extras who perform non-singing roles) and for special roles written by the composer for children's voices. In recent seasons these have included roles in La bohème, Tosca, and Carmen. Singers are involved in the complete production process - from early music and dramatic rehearsals to performing alongside opera professionals.

Youth Opera Productions: Part of Sarasota Opera's commitment to young people includes the commissioning of new operatic works written for children and young adults. Six new works have been presented as part of this mission: Deadline (1989), Polly Pen's Her Lightness (1993), Tom Suta's Eye of Ra (1998), John Kennedy's The Language of Birds (2004), Daron Hagen's Little Nemo in Slumberland (2012) and Rachel J. Peters' Rootabaga Country (2017). Members take part in the making of each opera, complete with professional staging, costumes, lighting, sound, and orchestral accompaniment.

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