The Inspector EXPOSED

During intermission at Wednesday evening’s performance of The Inspector, something dramatic happened.

The curtain stayed up.

What? Why!?

The curtain stayed up, because we presented BLO Exposed, which is a conversation designed to bring you closer to the opera.

At BLO’s Wednesday night shows, we round up a few individuals involved with the production and have a live conversation about what it’s really like behind-the-scenes at the opera.

We also scour Facebook and Twitter for your questions (@bostlyricopera, #bloexposed) and answer them live. BLO Exposed is really all about you.

This past Wednesday’s performance was great fun. David Angus, BLO’s Music Director and conductor of The Inspector, Sandra Kott (concertmaster), and Craig McNutt (percussion) answered questions from quite a few people in the audience.  

Here are a few of the questions and answers you may have missed:

Program Change: Opera Night at the BPL

Overcoming Obstacles: Producing Opera in Boston

Tuesday, January 24, 2012
6:00--7:00pm
Rabb Lecture Hall

Boston Public Library, Copley Square

 

In opera, perhaps the  most dramatic of art forms, the danger, peril and passion are not always exclusively on the stage. Behind the scenes are a multitude of challenges to be met. Join a panel of Boston opera producers, Esther Nelson of Boston Lyric Opera, Aliana de la Guardia of Guerilla Opera, and Sharon Daniels of the Boston University Opera Institute, to discuss what must be overcome and what must go right to bring opera to the stage.

Opera App is more than a Toi! Toi! Toi!

I come from a household of teachers. Both my parents teach and raised me in the classroom. I graded papers (multiple-choice only) and ran ditto copies (yes, kids, that was how people made copies before Xerox). During summer breaks in college I worked as a teaching assistant with special education elementary children. Now, I run a box office which requires me to ‘teach’ on a daily basis – from ‘teaching’ my intern how to sell tickets to ‘teaching’ new subscribers about our production -- I ‘teach’ opera in 2 minute or less.

My wife, a volunteer coordinator for elderly services, works with many student volunteers from BHCC so I jumped at the opportunity to work with these students. The Office of Community Engagement oversees these partnerships.  The office helps students develop tangible skills through community service, civic engagement, and student activism. Through civic-centered or service-centered involvement, the Office of Community Engagement demonstrates to students the connection between community involvement and professional and personal development. What teaches personal development better than a 400 year-old art form associated with the socially elite and performed in a foreign language, right!? This challenge called for a creative lesson plan. (More after the jump)

Arts in Education Week

“Whereas art is integral to the lives of United States citizens and essential to the health and vitality of communities and the Nation…”

Happy Arts in Education Week! In July 2010 the U.S. House of Representatives passed a resolution designating the second week of September as “Arts in Education Week.” The resolution (H.Con.Res. 275, excerpted above) was proposed and introduced by Rep. Jackie Speier from California. Representatives from all over the country supported the resolution, and many made comments about why the arts are important to the nation’s children and why they themselves cared so deeply. In light of the economic circumstances in July 2010, this gesture was not a small one, but it still takes action to make things happen.

So, how can you help celebrate Arts in Education Week? The wonderful people at the Arts Education Partnership have put together some ideas and we’d love to hear what you can think of. Leave us a comment below!

How are we celebrating at Boston Lyric Opera? Well, we will have special features on our blog and social media all week. And on Thursday and Friday we will have live updates from our Education & Community Programs Manager, Julie House, who is attending the Arts Education Partnership’s conference in San Francisco to learn about Transforming Urban School Systems Through the Arts.

By the way, if you know of a college or graduate student looking to get some experience in arts education, BLO is looking for an Education & Community Programs Intern to spend the season with us. What better way is there to celebrate?

Happy art-making!

An Exciting new Opera-tunity for Schools

Julie House at the 2009 Open House

A guest post written by BLO's Education & Community Programs Manager Julie House. 


Thinking back, I bet you can remember several field trips you took in school and what field trip days were like. You probably couldn't fall asleep the night before because you were too excited, and you may have had a special outfit to wear for the occasion. Field trips were a formative part of our school days because they let us break our routines and do something fun and creative. We were interacting with the “real world” and not just reading about it from our desks.

Sadly, the days of field trips are few and far between for many schools today. How could this tremendous rite of passage be allowed to slip away? Well for starters, gassing up a school bus is really dang expensive. Given the option of spending money on gas or something else, most schools pick something else. (Who likes paying for gas? Certainly not me.) Second, school days just aren’t long enough for teachers to accomplish everything they need to like the good ol’ “3 R’s” and the new focus on STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics). It’s no small feat to get kids ready to be tested in these areas when you only have September-June to do it. The result? Fewer field trips. Oh, and less art altogether, but that’s a post for another day.

If you’re me, you’re looking at this scenario and saying to yourself, “What can I do to help teachers provide some special days for their students where they break routines and do something creative?” The answer? Music! Words! Opera! No, that’s not three answers, it’s the name of the new curriculum BLO is providing to schools that takes opera right into the classroom. No gas to pay for. No time lost driving back and forth. Opera right in front of your desk!

Here’s how it works: any teacher who wants to can come to a FREE five-day workshop August 8-12 at BLO to learn about opera through the Music! Words! Opera! curriculum. We will be focusing on The Barber of Seville since it is part of BLO’s upcoming season. Then, teachers will work on creating an original opera piece with their students! When the school year starts up teachers can apply what they learned in the workshop to leading their students step-by-step through the lessons until they have a piece ready to perform!

BLO will be involved all along the way: Obviously, questions come up and the Education Department is there to help. Teachers can also request classroom visits by a singer, director, and designer and help from a real composer. Students will also be invited to attend a working rehearsal of The Barber of Seville — I refuse to give up on field trips! Finally, each classroom to create its own opera will be invited to a festival day where they will perform for one another. The goal is to get kids involved in making art and gather up all the intrinsic benefits of doing so along the way.

If you’d like more information on Music! Words! Opera! or anything else going on in BLO’s Education Department, call Julie House at 617.542.4912 x242 or email jhouse@blo.org.

-- Julie House, Education & Community Programs Manager