Celebrating the Arts - Dwight-Englewood School

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In presenting their original opera, fifth graders showcase their creativity, while developing life
skills and learning about careers in the arts.
On April 28 in the Hajjar
Auditorium, the Silver
Shooting Stars opera
company presented its opera, called
Turned Inside Out, to great acclaim.
The 42-member opera company
wrote the storyline, composed the
music, created the sets, devised the
costumes, orchestrated the sound,
lighting, and public relations, and
managed the show. It’s an
impressive feat, particularly
because the Silver Shooting Stars
are also known as the Dwight-
Englewood fifth grade. Creating
from scratch an entirely original
opera—from the first germ of an
idea to the fully realized
production—is a project fifth
graders at D-E have been
undertaking since 1986.
Dwight-Englewood School CREATINGOPERA
The fifth graders’ accomplishment is part
of a program called Creating Original
Opera, which is supported by the
Metropolitan Opera Education
Department and takes place in schools
all over the world. It’s also a major
component of Dwight-Englewood’s fifthgrade
academic curriculum that gives
students insight into careers in the arts
and develops such life skills as
collaboration, negotiation, problem
solving, and planning.
Lower School Music Director Mary
Heveran runs the program at D-E and
explains that it begins in the fall, when
students brainstorm to create a name
and logo for their opera company. This
year’s name, Silver Shooting Stars,
acknowledges the 25th anniversary
of the opera program at D-E and the
fact that an alumnus is shooting a
Members of the Silver Shooting Star Opera Company perform Turned Inside Out this April 2011,
the 25th year of the Creating Original Opera program.
documentary film about the program
(see sidebar).
Students also brainstorm ideas about
the story their opera will tell. Heveran
says the operas always feature children
exploring and resolving some sort of
conflict. But the plots can be about
anything. Heveran loves this early stage
in the process. “I am continually amazed
and surprised and delighted,” she says.
“Every year their ideas are so different
from the year before. It’s amazing how
you start out with a blank paper, and
then suddenly, something new exists.”
The next important step is that each
job—from actor to writer to carpenter—
is discussed, and children apply for
positions. Each job carries with it real
responsibility. The electricians learn
about electricity and face the task of
designing the lights (often tin cans with
wire). Costume designers must consider
who the characters are—and what they
might symbolically represent—before
creating costumes. Composers start with
the lyrics and write one song at a time.
Notes Heveran, “They make their
own deadlines, and they have to be
responsible for their own work.” For
Heveran, it is important for students
“to see how their jobs as students can
translate into a professional job.”
In the early part of the year, students
also learn from professionals. They
attend an opera at the Met (this year
it was The Queen of Spades, by
Tchaikovsky) and learn from visiting
professionals who come to campus to do
workshops and presentations. Guests
have included a professional drummer