San Francisco Opera Launches Innovative Opera ARIA Music Performance Residency Program with the Koret Foundation

This month, San Francisco Opera launches its new Opera ARIA Music Performance Residency. One of the first programs of its kind for an opera company, the school-focused opera-immersion program will connect San Francisco Unified Middle and High School performing arts students to the professional musicians and artists of San Francisco Opera through a series of side-by-side rehearsals, solo and ensemble coachings, development of mentoring relationships, coaching for educators and in-school visits. Made possible by the Koret Foundation, the partnerships will occur for three years beginning Fall 2017 through Summer 2020.

"I am thrilled that the Koret Foundation, such a visionary supporter of San Francisco Opera for so many years, is enabling a ground-breaking development in our education program," said San Francisco Opera General Director Matthew Shilvock. "Through Koret's partnership we will bring together the immense talents of the San Francisco Opera with students in the Bay Area who are already making the arts part of their lives. The potentials of this initiative are limitless and it is a very exciting new chapter for San Francisco Opera's education programs."

The Opera ARIA Music Performance Residency began earlier this month with music students from Francisco Middle School (grade 8) and Ruth Asawa School of the Arts (grades 9-12). In preparation for side-by-side rehearsals with San Francisco Opera Orchestra musicians, conductors Ming Luke (music director of the Merced Symphony and Berkeley Community Chorus and Orchestra, and San Francisco Ballet Orchestra guest conductor) and William Long (assistant conductor of Opera Parallèle and a member of Washington National Opera's music staff) and San Francisco Opera teaching artists Sven Olbash and Nicholas Benavides partnered with music teachers from each school for classroom visits and instruction.

Side-by-side rehearsals with the San Francisco Opera Orchestra at the Company's Diane B. Wilsey Center for Opera began on October 19 and will continue with additional sessions on October 24, 25 and 26. The residency culminates with a Showcase performance by the students and San Francisco Opera Orchestra musicians before an invited audience at the Wilsey Center for Opera on October 26. The program features the Ruth Asawa School of the Arts Orchestra and Vocal Music students performing excerpts from Mozart's The Magic Fluteand Menotti's Amahl and the Night Visitors, and Francisco Middle School String Orchestraperforming Vivaldi's "Spring" (from The Four Seasons), Handel's Arioso, a South American tango, La Comparsita by Matos Rodriguez and one of Bach's Brandenburg concertos.

The San Francisco Opera Orchestra Committee commented: "The Orchestra is very excited to take part in this side-by-side program. Many of our musicians have participated in similar events, both as professional mentors and as students. We feel strongly that such experiences can have a deep and lasting impact on everyone involved, and look forward to working with the students in hopes of providing a valuable educational experience for these young musicians."

The Opera ARIA Music Performance Residency will have a focus on diversity and equity of the student body, with the goal of nurturing student advancement in musicianship skills, providing career education and giving insight into the professional world of music and opera. The program will allow San Francisco Opera to work with more San Francisco Unified School District middle/high schools and arts instructors, and expand its programs for professional development for school district music/arts instructors and professional musicians' teaching skills of middle and high school-age students.

"I am extremely excited for our partnership with San Francisco Opera," stated Ruth Asawa School of the Arts Principal Barnaby Payne. "This side-by-side program represents authentic collaboration between student-artists and one of The City's greatest artistic institutions. I'm grateful to the Opera's educational programs for allowing young people full access into the various aspects of opera production, and look forward to further San Francisco Opera/public school integration."

Serena Pon, Arts Coordinator/Orchestra and Piano Teacher for Francisco Middle School said: "My students are excited to have this opportunity to play alongside the musicians of the San Francisco Opera. Their newly acquired skills will help them in high school and beyond. Performing with the San Francisco Opera Orchestra will be an experience they will remember for the rest of their lives."

Over the next two years, the Opera ARIA Music Performance Residency will expand to additional schools identified in partnership with the SFUSD Visual and Performing Arts Department, with an emphasis on providing resources to music teachers and students at schools of need.

Opera ARIA (Arts Resources in Action) is San Francisco Opera's suite of in-school arts education programs. Opera ARIA programs connect professional, artistic and creative elements with classroom curricula. Through the lens of opera, students connect to music, creative writing, dance, theater and visual arts. Opera ARIA programs include in-school collaborative partnerships between dedicated classroom teachers and San Francisco Opera Teaching Artists; participation in Professional Development sessions for teachers and instructors; and opera resources including attendance at San Francisco Opera dress rehearsals to ensure a multi-dimensional experience for students of all learning types. For more information, visit sfopera.com/schools or contact the San Francisco Opera Education Department ateducation@sfopera.com or (415) 551-3274.

Photo: Scott Wall/San Francisco Opera