opera Education

Trips to the Met

For over twenty years, I took middle school and high school children to the Metropolitan Opera. With 40 opera trips, we enjoyed old warhorses and new classics, from “Il Barbiere di Siviglia” to “La Traviata” to “Dr. Atomic.” In the age of hip hop, finding inroads into this traditional musical art form was not easy. Preparation was key. Becoming familiar with the story and characters was every bit as important as spending time with the music. Ultimately the challenge of wrestling with, and befriending, an experience that their peers might consider outdated, gave the students a sense of accomplishment and made them feel like insiders.

Opera Club

Students in the middle school were soon clamoring for an after school opera program. Boys as well as girls wanted to participate. The challenge was to give the program structure, focus and goals. As seen in the documentary “Hands on with Turandot!” (below) the best way to learn opera was with a multi-arts approach, exploring the music, designing costumes, acting, and even developing skills of criticism (“Taste Test”). Because Puccini’s “Turandot” hinges on Calaf’s capacity to answer riddles, we had a session in which we played a riddle game.

Don Pasquale and meeting Anna Netrebko

The late Margaret Juntwait, the “voice” of the Saturday afternoon broadcasts, became aware of the Nanuet Opera Club, and decided to do a featurette of the group for WQXR, a rendition of the synopsis of Donizetti’s “Don Pasquale” in their own words:

After seeing a thrilling “Don Pasquale,” the Nanuet Opera Club was granted an audience with the great Netrebko herself (pictured). She autographed glossies, and answered such impertinent questions as “Do you have a boyfriend” (“Not at the moment”) and “How much money do you make per performance?” (“I really have no idea. You must ask my agent.”)