San Francisco Opera Education Presents 2nd Annual ARIA Festival

San Francisco Opera's Education Department will present its 2nd annual ARIA (Arts Resources in Action) Festival, Youth Voices for Change, on Saturday, May 6 at the Diane B. Wilsey Center for Opera from 10:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m. The community open house and festival is presented in partnership with the nine-day San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD) Arts Festival and features performances of original works created by students along with interactive workshops, hands-on crafts, and film presentations. The ARIA Festival is free and open to the public, but registration is encouraged.

Throughout San Francisco Opera's ARIA Festival, attendees are invited to engage in craft-making activities and view Opera in an Hour movies of Company productions, including such classics as Carmen and The Elixir of Love. At 11:00 a.m., 1:30 p.m. and 4:00 p.m., performances of original operas created by students from participating SFUSD schools representing kindergarten through 12th grade classes will be held in the Dianne and Tad Taube Atrium Theater. Featured performances will also include presentations by Little Opera, San Francisco Girls Chorus and the San Francisco Opera Guild.

Interactive activities and other performances will be held in the John M. Bryan Education Studio. The San Francisco Opera Archive will be open from 11:00 a.m.-4:00 p.m. for visitors to browse exhibits and vintage materials. Photography from the Archive is viewable in the permanent exhibition within the David Gockley Gallery and Hume Family Gallery.

San Francisco Opera Director of Education Ruth Nott commented: "We are thrilled to return to the Wilsey Center for Opera with the ARIA Festival-it's an incredible opportunity to showcase the creativity of students in a beautiful and very professional setting. With every visit I make to our partner schools, and just having interacted with teens in our spring break Performing Arts Connection program, I am heartened by the resilience, progressive-thinking and thoughtfulness of students, many of whom are dealing with big challenges of their own. The operas and performing arts works they are creating tell stories that bring about empathy for others and are profound dreams of a bright future. That's why our theme this year is Youth Voices for Change. They are our hope for the future."

The ARIA Festival on May 6 is one of the featured attractions of the 31st annual SFUSD Arts Festival, which begins April 29 and continues through May 7. The Asian Art Museum, located at 200 Larkin Street in the heart of San Francisco's Civic Center, serves as the hub for the week-long community celebration. For more information about the SFUSD Arts Festival: sfusdartsfestival.org.

Saturday, May 6, 2017 ARIA Festival

Program Schedule at the Wilsey Center for Opera

10:00 a.m.-10:45 a.m.

Bryan Education Studio

Engagement activities including Education Department's CarTUNES, moments from classic cartoons featuring symphonic music.

11:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m.

Taube Atrium Theater

Featured Performances:

Jefferson Elementary

West Portal Elementary

San Francisco Girls Chorus

12:15 p.m.-1:15 p.m.

Bryan Education Studio

Engagement activities including San Francisco Girls Chorus performance and sing-a-long.

1:30 p.m.-2:30 p.m.

Taube Atrium Theater

Featured Performances:

Mission High School

Lafayette Elementary

2:45 p.m.-3:45 p.m.

Bryan Education Studio

Engagement activities including San Francisco Opera Guild's Sing A Story: La Cenerentola

4:00 p.m.-5:00 p.m.

Taube Atrium Theater

Featured Performances:

Miraloma Elementary

Argonne Elementary

All-Day Activities

Wilsey Center for Opera

10:00 a.m.-3:45 p.m.

Interactive craft-making activities along with Opera in an Hour movies (Carmen and The Elixir of Love), exploring history in the San Francisco Opera Archives (11:00 a.m.-4:00 p.m.), touring the permanent photography exhibition, playing with San Francisco Opera costumes, an early childhood engagement area, viewing the opera learning and creation process at the ARIA Gallery, and a scavenger hunt for traveling to and from the ARIA Festival at the Wilsey Center for Opera and the SFUSD Arts Festival at the Asian Art Museum.

Photo credit: Scott Wall

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