Opera at the Carolina, a partnership between UNCG’s School of Music and Greensboro Opera, has reached over 180,000 Guilford County fifth graders since it began in 2010. It started when Greensboro Opera Board President Barbara A. Peters approached Professor David Holley about establishing The Barbara Ann Peters Write Your Own Opera! contest. This partnership has drawn increasingly generous support from the community, including The Arts Council of Greater Greensboro, The Cemala Foundation, Guilford County Public School System, and The Tannenbaum-Sternberger Foundation.
Each spring, all Guilford County School fourth graders are invited to submit original short stories for consideration. Greensboro Opera’s Education Committee reads 75-to-100 submissions over the summer, recommending a dozen or so of them to UNCG Professor and Greensboro Opera’s Artistic/General Director David Holley. Once the winning story is selected, Holley creates the libretto, and the libretto to is set to music by a faculty member of UNCG’s composition program. Then, UNCG Opera Theatre undergrads, master’s students, and doctoral candidates rehearse and perform the new opera the following spring in the Carolina Theatre of Greensboro.
According to Barbara Peters: “For many of these young students, Opera at the Carolina offers their first exposure to the art form and their first exposure to a live opera performance in the incomparable Carolina Theatre. Introducing the power, passion, and magic of opera to fifth graders opens all their senses given the visual and audio impact. These are the many ways Opera at the Carolina engages these youngsters who leave the theatre energized and wanting more. Taking home and sharing their experiences with their parents and guardians galvanizes parents and families to explore Greensboro Opera’s full-length productions.”
Professor David Holley shares how this continued community partnership greatly benefits UNCG students:
“The UNCG Opera Theatre is an important program because of the impact on our community and as a vehicle for our UNCG students to make the transition into the professional world. It provides stage time and performances for our students through our official partnership with Greensboro Opera. Many appear in Greensboro Opera’s professional mainstage shows, either in the chorus and often in smaller roles. These stage credits, as well as those from our UNCG productions, enhance our students’ resumes as they move into the professional world.”
There is evidence that opera presented to young people reaps long-term rewards and deep impact. Recently, Greensboro Opera interviewed current board trustee Nick Lindsay, who spoke enthusiastically about his first experience of opera as a fifth grader. Nick was grateful for that early exposure to opera; he has not only become a fan, but an advocate, patron and supporter through his service on Greensboro Opera’s board.
Susan Schwartz, Executive Director of The Cemala Foundation, shares her thoughts on why this program is a valued community-engaged program:
“I love watching busloads of fifth graders disembark from the yellow school buses and proceed orderly and happily into the Carolina Theatre. The family and student pride are unmatched, and students are engaged, enchanted, and excited to be a part, as they see the winning story turned into an opera, which is always about school life and is most relatable to the fifth graders in attendance.
“Every fifth grader who comes to the Carolina Theatre (a treat!) is exposed to storytelling, creativity, and accomplishment, sees and hears college students excelling in voice and performance, and goes home at night to talk about all they saw, heard, and learned at the Carolina Theatre. It is a pleasure for The Cemala Foundation to contribute to this experience.”
This year’s winning opera story is “The Key to All Colors” by Stokesdale Elementary fifth grader Samantha Dustman. David Holley has written the libretto based on Dustman’s story, and UNCG Composition Professor Mark Engebretson has composed the score. The opera The Key to All Colors will be presented on April 7th, 8th, 9th at the Carolina Theatre.
Story by Caitlyn Schader
Photo credits: Bert Vanderveen
