"I used to think opera sucks . . . not any more."
- Megan Berry, P.S. 46, The Bronx
Opera-in-the-Schools:
The Bronx Opera Company has had an in-depth program in the public schools of The Bronx since 1995. Its highlight is a semi-annual morning children's performance at Lehman College. But this is only the beginning. For, in addition to bringing students to the opera, the company brings opera to the students in their schools with a series of visits before and after the special Lehman performance. Our program is threefold:
Preparation:
Before the children attend the abridged "children's performance" at Lehman College, performers from the production visit Bronx public schools to discuss the opera, sing some selections from it and answer questions. The students generally range in age from the fourth grade through high school.
Performance:
A special abridged version of the opera is generally given at Lehman College's Lovinger Theatre on the weekday morning before our full weekend performances. The students see the opera, sung in English, with sets, costumes, lights and piano accompaniment.
At the conclusion of the children's performance, the students are given flyers entitling them to return for a full performance, with orchestra, at Lehman College that weekend. The students are admitted for free while an accompanying adult gets to see the opera for $5. A special backstage tour is included prior to the performace. Many young Bronxites and their parents take advantage of this annually.
Closure:
The performers return to the schools the following week for perhaps the most exciting part of the program. Students now are given a chance to discuss their reactions and ask questions ranging from performance details and stage effects to the backgrounds and experiences of the artists and fascinating insights connecting the opera plots to their personal life experiences. New friends are made for opera and new audiences are created for the opera company.
The Job Shadow Program:
The Bronx Opera Company's Job Shadow Program supplements its regular Arts Education Program. A small number of very interested Bronx public school students are selected by their teachers and interviewed by the company. The students then form direct relationships in areas which interest them (set design, lighting, etc.) with the opera professionals working in those areas. The "shadowing" can include assisting the professional in appropriate ways or merely observing. In either case, the program provides these Bronx students with valuable insights as they strive to make important career choices.
M.S. 80 Partnership
Public funds given to Bronx Opera by the Office of Councilmember Oliver Koppell (through the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs) have allowed us to assist Middle School 80, The Bronx, with its fledgling theatre program. Bronx Opera staff was a part of the planning and production of Annie, which MS 80 is presented in June 2010, and of Alice in Wonderland, which the school's students performed a year later. We hope this is only the beginning of a long-term program.
Bronx Opera Young Artists Progam (BOYAP)
In May 2010, The Bronx Opera Company and Manhattan College began conversations concerning Manhattan hosting a new Bronx Opera initiative at its campus in the Riverdale section of The Bronx. This new initiative, titled the Bronx HOPE (High School Opera Performance Experience), will be inaugurated in July 2012.
The goal of Bronx HOPE is to give promising high school singers, identified by their teachers as having the talent and interest to pursue opera as a career, the tools they will need to succeed in auditions for undergraduate programs in voice and opera. Bronx HOPE will also help give participants the skills they will need to prosper in college, once they are accepted.
As our 2011-12 season progresses, we will be in the process of identifying students who will be part of Bronx HOPE in the Summer of 2012. We look forward to Bronx HOPE and to helping develop talented inner-city students as they take their first steps towards a career.