OperaFirst Education Programme (2014 Annual Report)
Garsington Opera
The Old Garage, Great Milton, Oxford OX44 7NP T 01865 368201 E johnny@garsingtonopera.org www.garsingtonopera.org
Contents Introduction ....................................................................................................................................................... 3 Activities ............................................................................................................................................................ 4 OperaFirst Workshops ................................................................................................................................... 4 Timeline of Activity Dates .......................................................................................................................... 4 General Feedback ...................................................................................................................................... 4 Make an Opera .............................................................................................................................................. 5 Timeline of Activity Dates .......................................................................................................................... 5 GO Create an Opera ...................................................................................................................................... 5 Timeline of Activity Dates .......................................................................................................................... 5 Aims and Objectives .................................................................................................................................. 5 Feedback – Pupils ...................................................................................................................................... 6 Feedback – Teachers ................................................................................................................................. 7 OperaFirst Performance ................................................................................................................................ 8 Projects with Local Partners .......................................................................................................................... 8 Feedback.................................................................................................................................................... 8 Autumn Projects 2014 ....................................................................................................................................... 9 Adult Community Chorus .............................................................................................................................. 9 Primary School Film Project – Così fan tutte ............................................................................................... 10 GO Create an Opera .................................................................................................................................... 11 Opera and Well-being.................................................................................................................................. 12 Future Plans ..................................................................................................................................................... 13 Garsington Opera for All – 2015-2017 ........................................................................................................ 13
Garsington Opera
Introduction Throughout the 2013/14 Season Garsington Opera Education has continued to develop and build upon the engagement and progress achieved through the highly successful 2013 Community Opera, Road Rage. Throughout the year we have worked to engage further with those who were involved in the 2013 Community Opera project, ensuring that we continued to support and develop our existing relationships, as well as using these groups to broaden recruitment for the programme within schools recognised as hard-to-reach or in special measures, as well as hard-to-reach adult groups. Developing the model in 2013, we hope to deliver another large-scale community piece in 2016 which will involve a broader spectrum of the local community and may also involve a Youth Dance Company to engage further with the male teenage groups. This proposed project in 2016 will connect further with the community surrounding Wormsley through both existing and new relationships with schools and local groups. With this in mind, activities in the 2014 and 2015 Education Programme have been designed to reflect our longer-term aim, building several committed local groups who will be involved in the process. Our continued aim is “to share our passion and love of opera with a wider audience, helping to demystify the wonderful and varied genre of opera for those who would not normally have access to it�, and in 2014 we have worked with c.1,200 children, young people and adults from the local area. Through a series of participatory workshops during the year, local participants of all ages had the opportunity to discover and explore the genre of opera, working alongside professional singers and artists to create their own work in response to the music and stories of operas they would experience in Garsington Opera’s 2014 season. The programme was entitled OperaFirst, reflecting its focus on those who have had little or no experience of live opera performance. Activities were designed to prepare and support participants before giving each of them the opportunity to attend a professional performance of The Cunning Little Vixen at Wormsley, exclusively for a schools and community audience. Whilst the activities contained in the 2014 programme varied in length and group size, all had the singular aim of developing and enhancing community engagement through opera, drama and music.
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Garsington Opera
Activities The activities contained in the 2014 programme had the singular aim of developing and enhancing community engagement through opera, drama and music.
OperaFirst Workshops These 3-hour workshops were designed to prepare and equip a large number of groups for a visit to Garsington Opera in June 2014 to attend professional performances of either Offenbach’s Vert-Vert or Janacek’s The Cunning Little Vixen. During these sessions, the Creative Team would signpost the opera, identifying key points and themes for young audience members to engage with. Participants would meet and hear a professional singer, sing an extract or chorus of the opera and engage with the themes of the piece, allowing them to attend performances with enthusiasm and greater understanding. This presented a unique opportunity tailored to this specific audience, the majority of whom were experiencing opera for the first time. Each member of the audience had been introduced to the opera and its subject material as part of the participatory workshop activities during the year and was therefore able to engage fully with the performances at Wormsley, maximising this opportunity for every participant. Timeline of Activity Dates 13 May 2014 Opera First Secondary School Workshops – Moulsford Prep, Wexham Secondary 14 May 2014 Opera First Secondary School Workshops – Oxford High School 15 May 2014 Opera First Secondary School Workshops – Misbourne Secondary School 22 May 2014 Opera First Primary School Workshops – Chalgrove, Stokenchurch and Lane End 23 May 2014 Opera First Primary School Workshops – Frieth, Ibstone and Millbrook 2 June 2014 Opera First Primary Schools – Visit to Wormsley to see a full rehearsal 4 June 2014 Opera First – Wycombe Women’s Aid workshop 17 June 2014 Opera First – Moulsford Prep to see a rehearsal 25 June 2014 Opera First Secondary School Workshops – Cressex, Icknield & Mandeville Schools 26 June 2014 Opera First Secondary School Workshops – Heritage House Special Needs School 27 June 2014 Opera First Secondary School Workshops – Slough & Slough Music Service (3 schools) and Royal Grammar School. General Feedback The impact on participants was significant, with many feeding back through evaluation that the activities and process had helped them gain in confidence and self-discovery, whilst also expressing further turning-points in understanding the creative processes employed to put a musical, theatrical performance together.
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“My favourite thing was at the beginning when we developed ideas, and played team games.” “Before I did the project I thought it would be boring and horrible but I really enjoyed it, understanding and liking the story.” “I loved putting the performance together, the process and how it all developed, like a jigsaw.” “I didn’t realise I could sing.”
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Make an Opera These sessions were focused 1-day devising workshops where participants built an opera in a day. They were aimed specifically at continuing and developing our existing relationships with Youth Chorus and Adult Chorus members who were involved in Road Rage 2013. With an emphasis on providing opportunities and training to develop skills which were learnt or gained through previous work with us, participants had a chance to continue their musical skill development with professional artists and Creative Teams. Timeline of Activity Dates 31 October 2013 Make an Opera – Primary half term workshop at Chalgrove School 1 November 2013 Make an Opera – Primary half term workshop at Millbrook Combined School 9 November 2013 Make an Opera – Ages 12+, including Adults 11 January 2014 Make an Opera – Vocal Technique – ages 12-25, Millbrook Combined School 17 February 2014 Make an Opera – Primary half term workshop, Music Hub, High Wycombe 18 February 2014 Make an Opera – Secondary half term workshop, Cressex School 15 March 2014 Make an Opera – Adult Community Chorus 10 May 2014 Make an Opera – Adult and Youth Community Chorus
GO Create an Opera These projects formed a longer-term residency with a school or community group, where the Creative Team held a series of workshops in each location for a week of activities, all leading towards a performance at the end. The emphasis in these sessions is placed on building the group’s confidence and allowing each participant to contribute to a final performance that has been developed collaboratively throughout the week. Timeline of Activity Dates 7, 8, 9, 15, 16 October 2013 6, 7, 31 January and 1, 4 February 2014 15, 22, 23 January 2014
GO Create an Opera – Mandeville School, 50 pupils, Years 7-13 GO Create an Opera – Icknield Community College, 50 pupils, Years 9-11 GO Create an Opera – Cressex Community School, 120 pupils, Year 7
Aims and Objectives Accessing young people who are harder to reach Using music as a tool for emotional and social development Developing new cohesive groups Pushing boundaries Providing teachers with new ideas (continued professional development, CPD) To provide an opportunity for students to respond to themes and ideas of The Cunning Little Vixen To provide students with a cross-artform experience encompassing music, drama, and design, concentrating on vocal composition in particular To involve children to work on the design elements of the project with a professional designer. To invite feeder Primary Schools to the performance and involve them in a short workshop at the start of the performance To support professional development at the schools, particularly in collaboration with Drama Teachers but also with the direct involvement of Design Teachers and Music Teachers in the schools. Garsington Opera Education 2014
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Feedback – Pupils Feedback from pupil participants was overwhelmingly positive and with no negative comments relating to the process. Only two pupils dropped out of the project and this was early-on. None of the pupils had ever taken part in an opera before and all the pupils talked of gaining confidence, new skills and how the project had positive impacts on both their curriculum-based work and social lives. There was considerable self-discovery. Their quotes reflect how they felt they had contributed creatively to the final piece and their ideas had been valued and included.
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“The project has made me more confident at performing in drama. I always used to take a back seat but since doing this project I don’t care what other people think.” “We had to talk about our emotions, and share experiences, like a time when we felt trapped or scared, and a time when we should have spoken up about something. This became easier as we became more comfortable as a team.” “We made new friends in different year groups and the sixth form still say hello to us at break.”
“I can’t wait until the summer when we visit Garsington.” “I would love to do it again.” “I loved being treated like a professional opera company.” “The best thing was noticing how the whole thing was put together, how one thing led to another, and then putting the whole thing together.” “This got me into opera and thinking about opera.” “This experience made me join the choir.” “I didn’t know anything about opera. I thought it was just about singing, I didn’t know there was a storytelling element.” “The professional teachers were really fun. Strict but reasonable. They explained the need to take it seriously, because we did at first find it strange turning into chickens.” “My parents said the performance was amazing. They loved Karen’s workshop. Whose idea was it to do this project?” When asked what was the most important thing they had learnt: “Normally I would shiver to sing in front of people, now I would happily do it to anyone.” “The confidence to talk out.” “I used to hate drama but I like it now.” “I was very shy in drama, but recently after this project I have found myself leading a bit in drama and making others enthusiastic.”
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Feedback – Teachers The project process and final product was regarded as excellent by the music teachers, and has led to increases in music lessons, orchestra and choir members. Staff members have taken elements of the project back into the classroom to the benefit of other pupils.
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“We have worked with the Royal Opera a number of years ago which was excellent but Garsington Opera worked much better as a team. The advantage of this was it made the work creatively stronger.” – Brian Dipple, Music, Mandeville School
“The choice of opera was perfect because it dealt with serious issues that affect many of our pupils. The Garsington Opera team quickly made the pupils feel secure enough to share personal stories. One boy, Kyle, has a speech impediment and learning needs. His Grandfather came to watch and said it had been ‘fantastic’, the ‘best thing his grandson had ever done’.” – Caroline Amos, Music, Mandeville School “I have one pupil with ADHD whose confidence has rocketed, and another boy who almost dropped out but stuck at it and just flew!” – Ruth Papworth, Drama, Mandeville School “When you see a shy pupil like this rise to such a challenge and perform in front of her peers, you know you have achieved something very important” – Brian Dipple, Music, Mandeville School “Watching Karen and Hannah was fantastic. I have taken Karen’s technique for getting attention and silence back into the classroom already.” – Caroline Amos, Music, Mandeville School “I have four more pupils joining the orchestra and coming on a music trip to Belgium, an increased choir, and two more pupils requesting instrumental lessons!” – Brian Dipple, Music, Mandeville School “We got a bit sidetracked with OFSTED, but they observed the work for half an hour and thought it was absolutely wonderful, ticking all the right boxes.” – Caroline Amos, Music, Mandeville School
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Garsington Opera
OperaFirst Performance On 30 June 2014, Garsington Opera welcomed 600 people from the local community to a full performance of The Cunning Little Vixen. All those who attended had been involved in activities through the year and so were prepared to engage fully with the performance, having learnt about the themes and music of the piece with the Garsington Opera Education Team. At the beginning of the event Karen Gillingham, Creative Director Garsington Opera Education, ran a short warmup workshop from the stage which involved all attendees. This ensured that all members of the audience were alert and engaged, that they had been introduced to members of the orchestra and production teams, and that they were reminded of some of the key characters in the piece.
The performance was extremely well received and members of the cast remarked how positive the atmosphere was within the auditorium during the opera and how members of the audience really engaged with performers. “This place is amazing and I liked the Director’s interpretation.” – Pupil, Misbourne School “What an amazing experience for our young people, I was so proud of them and their engagement. If they can do this they can do anything. This opens up the world to them.” – Teacher, Wexham School
Projects with Local Partners In 2014 Garsington Opera has worked with two local partners to increase the reach and impact of the Education Programme. This has included a return to the Turville Trust, working with them and Social Services to provide creative music and drama workshops for vulnerable children from the Oxfordshire region. Feedback The Trustees of the Turville Trust wrote to Garsington Opera as follows.
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“This was the workshop we were all the most apprehensive about: a group of 12 rather challenging boys supervised by an army of Social Workers and volunteers. Against all expectations, they were captivated by the whole experience and discovered first-hand how much fun opera can be. One or two showed an extraordinary and instinctive musicality, demonstrating an emotive understanding that could only come from deep within. What I love is the way these workshops break apart the social stereotypes supposedly associated with opera, presenting the possibilities of story-telling through music to an audience largely unbiased by preconception. Before they even realised it they were drawn in to the world of operand singing along to Mozart! I send you the warmest thanks.”
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Autumn Projects 2014 Adult Community Chorus September – November 2014 Numbers: Over 45 local adults signed up for this series of workshops leading to two performances. The final number participating in the performances was 39. Format: A series of 6 Monday evening, 2 hour workshops and two full Saturday workshops, and 2 performances. Music: A Nightingale Sang by John Brown, originally composed for and with Kings Hospital, London to celebrate nursing and reflecting on the work of Florence Nightingale. Creative Team: Karen Gillingham – Director, Lea Cornthwaite – Vocal Coach, Sam Laughton – Repetiteur, Kate Laughton – Site Project Manager, Vicky Hope-Walker – overall Project Manager. Venues: Workshops at Millbrook School through the High Wycombe Music Hub, Performances: National Spinal Injuries Centre – Aylesbury 2.30pm and Millbrook School 6pm. Feedback: A survey was undertaken providing practical feedback and also showing how this format was more satisfying for the participants than ad hoc workshops. Several members of the group sent in special emails of thanks and here are a couple of quotes from them.
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“I am a very shy person and I cannot tell you how much good doing this has done me. My sister talked me into it and she in the end couldn’t commit to it. It has really brought me out of myself, thank you so much”. “Garsington Community Opera have helped me tremendously, Karen and Lee have no idea of the impression they have left in my life. All this have brought me out off my shell and comfort zone, specially in helping me in getting rid of my stage fright! I feel ready to do anything now. Have met people with the same interest in singing, and music, with some started a wonderful friendship. I cannot wait for the next project, I hope we do not have to wait for too long. All in all THANK YOU!! Until next time, lets get ready toooo rumbleee!!!!!!”
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Primary School Film Project – Così fan tutte Stokenchurch Primary School and Lane End Primary School 9th October, 6th, 7th, 11th, 12th 13th November 2014, and assemblies in January 2015 Numbers: 29 Year 4 (ages 8-9) from Stokenchurch, and 24 Year 4 & 5 (ages 8-10) Lane End Primary. Audiences: 400 to show the film and for the children to share their experience with other pupils and family. The film will also be shown to approximately 3,000 people at the Coastal event venues. The children from Lane End included 1 child with ADHA and 5 with Learning Needs, and one child with English as a second language. The statistics were similar from Stokenchurch School, 4 with support requirements. Format: This involved bringing the two schools together. Lane End is a school that has many children coming from difficult backgrounds and with learning support needs. 1 devising day at Lane End School, 2 singing practice sessions, 1 professional recording day, 2 performance/filming days, 2 assemblies. The children took the themes of Così fan tutte and devised their own songs, alongside learning a song from the original Mozart score. The children selected were a mix of abilities ranging across the full spectrum from those with some severe learning needs like autism, poor language and literacy through to some gifted and talented. Creative Team: Karen Gillingham – Director, John Barber – Composer, Adam Walker-Watkins – Filmmaker, Laura Howe- Vocal Coach, Chris Full – Sound Recording Director, Emily Leather – Repetiteur, Jack the Guitarist, Peter Truin – Sax, Ruth the Bassist, Vicky Hope-Walker – Project Manager. Venues: Lane End School, Stokenchurch School, the Scout Hut.
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Feedback: We had two very supportive teachers on this project Hattie Killen (Stokenchurch) and Kayley Hawes (Lane End). They both said how much they had loved the project and how enlightening it had been for their pupils. They found that some of the children they felt would struggle shone and vice versa. Kayley said that this was a life changing experience for some of her children, in particular to see that the composer really had taken their words, and music ideas to produce the final songs, really made them feel confident. There was real excitement on hearing the music for the first time, and being in the setting of a recording studio at the Scout Hut, and having live musicians. The children asked some questions about this set up and it added another learning curve and dimension to the project. Interviews with the children and teachers after they had seen the edited film showed that they now understood that opera was ‘A sung story’, that they had gained skills and confidence in drama, music, composition, singing, teamwork and the need to do lots of repeating for film making. Other facts: - Only 10/53 had heard of Garsington Opera before - Only 3/53 had heard of or understood what a composer did
GO Create an Opera Cressex Community School – 3 day residency Numbers: 49 young people from year 7 (age 11-12) in the full 3 days, 135 for the first day, Audience 200 Year’s 7/8, Audience 200 family, other school pupils/teachers and friends. Format: Day 1 – 5 x 1 hour workshops across the whole year group, so that everyone experiences GO. From this a selection of 49 was made to work over another two days. This group includes a wide range of children and needs. Day 2 – Devising day – warm ups, learning about the opera, writing and composing 4 songs in 4 groups on the themes of – Will I ever marry, what is marriage, friendship and what my wedding will be like. Discussing and debating the difference between boys and girls, and looking at the title of the Opera and its meaning ‘All girls are like that’. Day 3 – Developing, staging, rehearsing and performing. Return in the summer to show the live relay of the Opera. Creative Team: Karen Gillingham – Director, Pete Letanka – Composer, Jan Capinski – Singer, Vicky HopeWalker – Project Manager. Venues: Cressex Community School Feedback: A very supportive school and Head of Music. The group were stronger than last year, several had worked with us at their primary schools, and this might have had an impact. The level of work achieved in two days was incredible: double the amount of songs. Garsington Opera Education 2014
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Opera and Well-being National Spinal Injuries Centre – 22nd November 2014 Numbers: Workshop: 5 patients, 6 Community Chorus members. Performance: 26. Format: The workshop was set up in a very pleasant, informal garden room off the café. Patients were invited to attend. Music: A Nightingale Sang, composed by John Browne Creative Team: Karen Gillingham – Director, Lea Cornthwaite – Vocal Director, Sam Laughton – repetiteur, 6 members of the Adult Community Chorus, Vicky Hope-Walker – Project Manager. Venue: Garden Room off the café, which was perfect and built awareness of the performance later. The performance took place in the foyer, main entrance and was good in space and acoustics. Feedback: This was a taster activity so we were delighted to have 5 patients turn up. It was very well supported by our contact at the hospital, Vivienne Gordon, with posters and flyers everywhere. Having a small number of the Community Chorus members support at the workshop took the focus of the patients which they appreciated, and made them feel more comfortable. Others at the hospital said they would have liked to take part but it clashed with weekend family visits. All the participants turned up for the performance of the full Community Chorus later, and two of them joined in the performance. The Community Chorus members enjoyed supporting the workshop and felt it was a great place to perform. Quotes: “The Chorus did a wonderful job of the workshop and performance, it was very different to anything we have had here before” – Vivienne Gordon, Hospital Staff
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Future Plans Garsington Opera for All – 2015-2017 Garsington Opera Education has been commissioned by Arts Council England (ACE), in partnership with East Lindsey District Council, to deliver an exciting programme of free opera performances across the country 2015-2017. The programme is called Opera for All. ACE approved a grant of £750,000 in December 2014 for the Opera for All programme, across the three year timeframe, to deliver free public screenings together with education projects from Garsington Opera throughout the country. The screenings will take place in the North, South East, South West and Midlands, including East Lindsey. A large-scale programme of education and outreach work is firmly integrated with the digital free public screenings and will provide ground breaking opportunities for communities to be involved in creating and learning about opera. The project will be delivered through members of the Coastal Communities Alliance (CCA), which has identified areas of low engagement with the arts for the project to target, remaining a key strategic partner for the delivery of the programme. The project will establish a new network of touring partners through the Coastal Communities Alliance in areas with little existing access to live performance, enabling high quality art to continue to be presented in these regions after the initial three-year period. The programme will cost £1.16M and is funded to a large extent by the Arts Council’s grant. The remaining budget will be covered by corporate sponsorship, local support by partner councils and by trusts and foundations with a particular interest in the programme or in the areas it will reach.
“We are thrilled that Arts Council England is supporting the Opera for All project, which will be delivered in partnership with East Lindsey District Council and the Coastal Communities Alliance. To be able to reach new audiences through extensive education work and free opera screenings in areas that have limited engagement with the arts is vital and will have an enormous impact in the various communities who will participate in the project, as well as for access to opera and the arts nationwide.
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This news comes at an exciting time in Garsington Opera’s development as we continue to strive for the very highest quality of production and performance in our award-winning new opera house at Wormsley. We are passionate about sharing our work with the widest possible audience and both this project and the continued work of our brilliant education team clearly demonstrates that what we do off the platform is as important as what we do on it.” – Douglas Boyd, Artistic Director, Garsington Opera
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