Education

Based on its production of Oliver!, Commonwealth Opera created "Project Oliver" as a way to involve young people in theater and teach them music appreciation.
Maestro Rescia said that while all four schools thoroughly enjoyed the Oliver! workshops, he was impressed by the enthusiasm at Chestnut Accelerated in Springfield. "They really threw themselves into it," he said.

--- Daily Hampshire Gazette, 2000

Kudos to the 1,200 students from seven Hampshire and Hampden County middle schools who attended Commonwealth Opera's Hansel & Gretel. . . Imagine, all that teenage energy focused with full attention and honest appreciation for two hours of an opera production, of all things!

----Daily Hampshire Gazette reader

The mission of Commonwealth Opera’s education component is to provide our many audiences and potential audiences with a more meaningful and entertaining experience in connection with the operas and musicals we produce and to give people of all ages a better understanding of the language, musical and theatre arts components of these, as well as some background on the particular work currently in production. In this we particularly reach out to the younger generation to foster tomorrow’s audiences.

Over the past several years the company has been working with middle school students on such works as The Phantom Tollbooth, My Fair Lady, Oliver, The King and I, Hansel & Gretel and most recently, The Barber of Seville.

The in-school program for these productions has typically included a curriculum guide for teachers to use in preparing students for their attendance at a full performance, and a teacher workshop for review of the guide and logistics of the field trip to the performance venue.

The overall project includes an in-school presentation by the production’s artistic director, one or more of the production team members, and several performers. These key personnel introduce students to the numerous complex production elements, encouraging them to take part in various theatrical and musical exercises. Students are given passes to attend a special performance of the show just before opening night for the regular performance run of the production. In the past the company has worked with five to nine schools with the workshops being held at a community center about two months before the performance, and the in-school visit conducted just a few days earlier.

If your school within the Pioneer Valley would like information about our education program, please contact the Commonwealth Opera office.