COT's Opera for All and Reilly Elementary present CAVALLI'S GIASONE 6/2

CHICAGO OPERA THEATER'S OPERA FOR ALL PRESENTS "CAVALLI'S GIASONE: JASON AND THE GOLDEN FLEECE"
Featuring 95 Students from Reilly Elementary School

Wednesday, June 2, 2010 at 9:30am & 11:30am
Reilly Elementary School, 3650 West School Street, Chicago, IL 60618

Chicago Opera Theater's (COT) Opera for All and Reilly Elementary School proudly present Cavalli's Giasone: Jason and the Golden Fleece, an adaptation of Cavalli's Jason (Giasone). This one act opera showcases the final product of a yearlong project of 4th and 5th graders from Reilly Elementary working with COT teaching artists. This year, 330 students from five different Chicago Public Schools have created their own original productions by looking to the original mythological sources found in Cavalli's opera Jason (Giasone), which was presented as part of Chicago Opera Theater's 2010 Spring Festival Season. In studying these stories the students explored the hero's journey from the power of the gods to mapping the physical journey itself.

As part of Chicago Opera Theater's mission to make opera fresh, engaging, and accessible to the entire community, COT developed an educational outreach program in the spring of 2000, known as Opera for All. Concluding its 10th year, this education program focuses on demystifying opera for kids through in-depth, participation based programs. COT brings opera to the schools, infuses it into student's everyday lives, and gives them a chance to experience it firsthand as both audience members and as performers.

"I am very proud of the impact that we have made with Opera for All over the past ten years," said COT General Director Brian Dickie. "Not only is arts education an important part of Chicago Opera Theater's mission to bring opera to the next generation, but we also feel that it is crucial to a child's well-rounded development."

Working closely with classroom teachers, teaching artists from Opera for All incorporate the many elements of opera allowing students to collaborate and make their very own opera. At the end of the year, students perform an abridged version of an opera for classmates and family members. The partnership at Reilly Elementary offers group violin lessons for 1st and 2nd graders who then serve as part of the Opera for All ensemble at the final performance.

 

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