Education Brochure (PDF) - San Francisco Opera

Creative Opera Workshop
Grades 9-12
This exciting program is an interactive classroom experience for teens in which a teaching artist collaborates
with your classroom teacher, making curricular connections to an opera that is being offered as a student
dress rehearsal. There are four classroom visits scheduled in which the artist introduces the world of the opera,
the history, and the notion of conflict management and action/consequence in artistic storytelling as a model
for life. Through role-playing and connection to modern day instances, the students interact with the material
and begin to make more complex connections between art and life. This short-term residency is highlighted
by professional singers at one classroom visit. This is a program that will open students’ eyes to new forms of
expression, interpretation, and points of view expressed in artistic genre. Set up as a series of classroom visits,
a teaching artist will present a different lesson each class, focusing on the following topics:
• Drama and Representation
• Opera and Art
• Being an Artist
• Application and extension of idea/curriculum ties
While the first two sessions are more analytical in nature, covering basics of music history, the world of
the play, and observations on the art form, sessions three and four will concentrate on the hands-on
production side of art creation. During session three the teaching artist will be joined by two singers and a
pianist presenting examples of the opera we are discussing. Session four will be focused on taking what is
learned and furthering the themes and ideas in writing, composition, and design activities for the students.
Connection to curricula and current events will be a major component as it is important that students
begin to see art as a critical reflection and statement of world culture.
SPACE AND TIME
Creative Opera Workshop takes place in the classroom and requires some participation by the classroom
teacher. A performance space with a piano in good working order is necessary for visit three.
SCHEDULE
Fall 2012: Tosca by Giacomo Puccini
CASTING
Creative Opera Workshop is available to grades 9-12 and is specifically designed for schools in the East Bay,
South Bay, and North Bay cities.
INVESTMENT
The fee for program participation is $650 per classroom includes 35 tickets to the Student Dress Rehearsal of
Tosca at San Francisco Opera on Wednesday, November 14, 2012.
Student Dress Rehearsals
Grades 4-12
San Francisco Opera Guild has sponsored student rehearsals and matinees every season since 1939.
Students attend final dress rehearsals for a selection of main stage productions—a marvelous opportunity
to watch major artists at work. Sung in the original languages with projected English language translations,
and performed with full production values, these productions provide a high-level theatrical experience,
and also have the occasion to give a behind the scenes look at the complexities of the rehearsal process.
Comprehensive Teacher’s Guides and information are sent prior to each rehearsal visit.
SPACE AND TIME
All Student Dress Rehearsals take place
at the War Memorial Opera House,
301 Van Ness Avenue,
San Francisco.
SCHEDULE
Please note that all dates and times are set
at the discretion of the production
department and may be subject to change
at any time.
• Rigoletto by Giuseppe Verdi: September 5, 2012 at 6pm
• The Capulets & the Montagues by Vincenzo Bellini: September 27, 2012 at 2pm
• Moby Dick by Jake Heggie: October 7, 2012 at 3pm
• Lohengrin by Richard Wagner: October 17, 2012 at 6pm
• Tosca by Giacomo Puccini: November, 14, 2012 at 2pm
OPERASPIEL Program
Have a docent come and speak to your class about our fall dress
rehearsal offerings before or after an experience at the opera! Visits
can be scheduled and booked at time of program ordering.
CASTING
This program is available to grades 4-12 for groups of 10-100. It
is required that all students attending a dress rehearsal have
either participated in, or are schedule to participate in, a Guild
in-school program (including OPERASPIEL) during the same
academic year, or their teachers receive at least one session of
professional development in advance of the rehearsal.
INVESTMENT
Group rate: $250 for 20-30 students and chaperones;
please see order form for further pricing.
OPERASPIEL Program fee of $15 per classroom.
Madeleine H. Russell
High School Day at the Opera
in association with
San Francisco Opera
Education
A formal event exclusively for Bay
Area high school students is held
in conjunction with the final dress
rehearsal of an opera main stage
production. This activity provides
opportunities for social interaction
with students of the same age
while learning about art and
culture.
Resource guides include
information about careers in
theatre and opera.
Fall 2012: Tosca
Grades 9-12
This program is made possible
by a grant from the Columbia
Foundation.