Winter Youth Programs Launched at Seattle Opera

Seattle Opera has a full slate of youth activities planned for the winter, providing opportunities for performance, music education, and community-building for students across Washington State. From the Youth Opera Project to the annual School Opera Tour, Seattle Opera offers several different ways for youth to incorporate the magic of music and theater into their lives.

Community events planned in conjunction with the company's upcoming production of X: The Life and Times of Malcolm X will be announced in early January 2024.

Seattle Opera's lineup of youth education programs comes on the heels of a recently announced $250,000 Hearst Foundations grant for developing programs and strengthening partnerships with Highline Public Schools. The grant builds on Seattle Opera's existing in-school K–12 programs, which, over the past decade, have built a consistent presence in Washington State schools, working to provide access to a spectrum of music education programs at every grade level, as a regular part of the annual curriculum.

 

“Seattle Opera is honored to have received this grant from the Hearst Foundations, which will help us deepen our relationships with schools in South King County,” said Dennis Robinson Jr., Director of Programs and Partnerships. “Every child has the right to a rigorous and comprehensive arts education, and Seattle Opera is committed to doing our part in ensuring that right is realized, whether through these grant-funded programs in the Highline Public Schools or through the rest of Seattle Opera's many youth programs.”

The Hearst Foundations grant will amplify the work Seattle Opera is already doing to engage with students and schools across the region. “I am thrilled to be able to engage with youth in so many different capacities,” said Sara Litchfield, Associate Director of Youth Programs. “Whether we're providing first introductions to opera or giving more experienced performers new ways to express themselves, Seattle Opera is committed to providing multiple entry points into the arts. I look forward to working with the next cohort of youth audiences and performers this winter.”

First up in Seattle Opera's lineup of winter youth programming is an Opera Camp exploring Fairytales & Folklore, offered in partnership with Seattle Children's Theatre February 20–23. Working with two expert teaching artists, students will learn the fundamentals of stage performing, combining the arts of acting, singing, and dancing to tell immersive and engaging stories.

Next, March 8–17, the student performers from Seattle Opera's Youth Opera Project will present six public performances of Rootabaga Country, a quirky adventure story from composer and librettist Rachel J. Peters. Following two siblings who travel down the Zigzag Railroad with their father to learn more about the mother they never knew, Rootabaga Country is a catchy and inspiring story about love and family.

Rounding out the slate of youth programs for the winter, from March through May, Seattle Opera's School Opera Tour production of Monkey and Francine in the City of Tigers will travel to over 50 schools across Washington State. This 45-minute opera from composer Kamala Sankaram and librettist David Johnston features a vibrant and eclectic score that combines elements of Bollywood, Ethiopian jazz, Latin, and European classical music. With a story that fuses folktales from around the world, this charming production is perfect for families and children of all ages. Limited tour slots still remain, and Title I Schools are eligible to receive performances at no cost; interested schools may sign up at seattleopera.org/tour. Public performances will be given at Tagney Jones Hall on June 8 and 9.

Beyond youth programming, the winter season offers additional opportunities to experience opera outside the mainstage. In fact, the School Opera Tour is not the only show hitting the road this winter: the Seattle Opera Chorus also embarks on its first-ever tour of the Puget Sound region this January, with performances planned at McIntyre Performing Arts & Conference Center in Mount Vernon on Friday, January 26, and at Vashon Center for the Arts on Vashon Island on Sunday, January 28.

Featuring selections from works such as Ruggero Leoncavallo's Pagliacci, Benjamin Britten's Gloriana, and Aaron Copland's The Tender Land, these tour concerts will illustrate the many different faces the opera chorus inhabits on the opera stage. “They're sailors, they're townsfolk, they're witches, they're soldiers—they play all these different characters,” said Chorus Master Michaella Calzaretta. “Each role is so pivotal because it embodies the community in any given show, grounding it in time and place. The result has been some of the most spectacular music in the operatic repertory.”

 

Finally, fans of the Pacific Science Center's popular laser shows can look forward to the return of Laser Opera on January 20. Narrated by Dramaturg Jonathan Dean, this year's Laser Opera will feature a selection of recordings from prominent Black opera singers choreographed to a stunning, live laser show.

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