Opera for Kids

It's no secret that I am crazy about children. In fact, once upon a time, I used to teach public school music and drama. I gave it up to pursue a performing career in '95, but I couldn't leave it behind for good.

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I found the perfect way to fuse my performing with teaching! Now I conduct children's opera workshops around the greater Seattle area. I go into the classroom and work with groups of children, teaching and guiding them in the process of creating and performing an "opera." The Metropolitan Opera Outreach Program has developed a wonderful model for this hands-on experience, and even offers a training program for classroom teachers who wish to implement it in their classroom. I work in cooperation with the classroom teachers.

On the first day with a new class, my first task, of course, is to dismember some comical stereotypes. Typically, my first question, "What is opera?" solicits demonstrations of "fat ladies singing," usually accompanied by little fingers imitating Viking horns. I have to laugh, and wonder how this seemingly universal picture became implanted into the heads of our children…I suspect Bugs Bunny had something to do with it.

First, as a group, we explore the basics of singing, acting, and body language. Next, we form and name our opera company. The children choose what they want to be: performer, producer, librettist, composer, public relations correspondent, stage manager, set designer, lights/electrical engineer, costume designer or make-up artist, to name a few. The librettists write the story, the composers write the music, and the performers audition for roles…just like in "real life!" The finished product is quite remarkable, but so is the process. I think the children gain much more than respect for the art form. They discover what it's like to work as a team, and to take responsibility for completing a job.

I have implemented this program in two schools and am preparing for the third. The first project involved 1st and 2nd graders from Olympic Hills Elementary School. They created and performed the Bremen Town Musicians, based on the well-known Grimm's Brothers fairy tale. The children performed the opera for their peers and parents, and then went into a professional studio (Jack Straw Productions) to record the music. The second experience involved 3rd and 4th graders from Decatur Elementary School, who performed an opera called The Hike. The program and the performances attracted the attention of the Seattle Times and the P-I. We implemented the program again with the same school in 2001. The children created and performed an opera called Friends, Friends, Fabulous Friends that centered on social interaction and children's rights themes. We performed on the radio and attracted the attention of local political figures.

Seattle P-I Reporter, April 5, 2000

Seattle Times, April 5, 2000

When I first began working with school children in this kind of project, I was worried that they wouldn't have the background to be able to do what we were hoping to do. They proved me wrong! Children are natural storytellers (librettists), natural composers, and most of them are natural, uninhibited performers. And if they don't play piano, so what?! They can play the blinds on the classroom windows! They bloom when they are given a role - any role. It is delightful to watch them create with such spontaneity. I learn from them!

If you would like more information about Opera for Kids, or would like to contact Terri for a booking, please send an email to terri2sing@aol.com.

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I am the mother of Laurel ....and I've been meaning to write you a thank you note for the last month. I can't tell you how extraordinary Laurel's experience was working with you this year. Beginning in the fall when you first arrived at AE2, she started singing around the house, singing at dinner (verging on the disruptive), and belting it out on the swing set in the backyard. It's been nonstop Broadway around here ever since she met you.

Her experience with you is just another affirmation that kids truly live up to the high expectations of teachers and artists in their lives. Believe it or not, this is a kid who hasn't sung in years!

The night of the final performance at AE2 Laurel came home and without even turning on the living room lights tore open your CD and popped it into the CD player. She just sat in the dark room, with her coat still on, hunched in front of the speakers listening to the entire thing. It was really quite a moving tribute to you and all that you clearly meant to her. And, by the way, she has definitely memorized all those songs!

Thank you again for being such a gifted and devoted educator and performer. You have certainly touched this one girl's life in a big way. I hope we'll be able to come hear you sing someday before long!