400 DCPS Students Perform Opera Inspired Art At WNO School Showcase This Week

This week, more than 400 children from Washington, D.C. Public Schools (DCPS) will perform original, opera-inspired art at the Washington National Opera (WNO) School Showcase Days. The performances are a celebration of a school-year's worth of work, which began in the fall when the students attended WNO's young people's performance of the opera Carmen. Using the opera as a guide and working with their teachers and WNO teaching artists, each class created their own performances. Finished projects range from costume renderings to a fully staged, twenty-minute opera.

The students, ranging from 3rd to 6th grade and hailing from all corners of the city, are part of Washington National Opera's DCPS Partnership program, a year-long program in which classes explore the culture and history of an opera. Students create a unique work of art inspired by the opera that also reflects their communities. The program is designed to specifically support the DCPS standards for language arts, social studies and music education.

Schools featured in Wednesday's Showcase Day include: The Academy for Learning Through the Arts (Ward 5), Emery Elementary (Ward 5), River Terrace Elementary (Ward 7), Ross Elementary (Ward 2), Thomas Elementary (Ward 1), and Truesdell Elementary (Ward 4).

400 3rd through 6th graders from DCPS, Washington National Opera artists

Washington National Opera Studios

6925 Willow Street, NW, 3rd floor, Washington, D.C. 20012