Central City Opera's 2015-2016 Education & Community Engagement Brochure

Follow the road to imagination

Central City Opera 2015-2016 Education and Community Engagement

CENTRAL CITY OPERA

MAKING HISTORY...BOTH IN AND OUT OF THE BOX Built by Welsh and Cornish miners in 1878, the Opera House in Central City, Colorado, is still making history today as the home for Central City Opera’s professional annual summer festival. The jewel-box theatre is a National Historic Landmark and one of the most unique and intimate venues anywhere – with the Rocky Mountains and the mining town of Central City as

how the west was sung

an unforgettable backdrop. In addition to the Opera House, Central City Opera owns more than 30 historic properties used as housing and performance venues each summer. The organization is also known for its nationally recognized young artist training program and year-round education and community engagement throughout the region. Touring programs reach as many as 100,000 student, family and senior patrons each year. Central City Opera offers a musical and theatrical experience unlike any other and has wowed audiences with world-class performances since 1932. The company’s artistic vision is boldly different from other regional companies in balancing traditional and progressive works, and taking opera programming for children and families into the broader community. With its combination of diverse repertory and unique theatre, Central City Opera attracts internationally recognized directors, conductors and artists who produce amazing, exciting and unforgettable art.

Central City Opera’s touring programs enhance existing curriculum for young students and lifelong learning for everyone. We work directly with educators, community leaders, students and parents to make these offerings relevant, educational and entertaining. The arts enrich lives and learning at every age.

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Central City Opera’s engagement programs are designed to come to you – we tour to all areas of Colorado and Wyoming.

PERSONNEL

For Families, Adults, Lifelong Learners

Director – Deborah Morrow Associate Director – Emily Murdock Production/Stage Manager – Erin Joy Swank 25 Ensemble and Teaching Artists

Operas, Concerts and Variety Musical Shows Speakers Regional Touring Festival Family Matinee Opera Inside Out Take a Child to the Opera

• CentralCityOpera.org/education Easy online reservations available • Education@CentralCityOpera.org • 303.331.7026

TO BOOK A PROGRAM

SCHOLARSHIPS

For Children Eureka Street The Great Opera Mix-up Mozart & Co. How the West was Sung (grades 3-8) Opera Alive!

Music! Words! Opera! Residency

A student program request is never refused because of inability to pay the stated fee.

Scholarships, funded by generous foundations and individuals, are offered to qualified schools and organizations. Please call 303.331.7026 for more information.

For Tweens and Teens

Take advantage of excellent in-school offerings from our partner organizations:

How the West was Sung (grades 3-8) En Mis Palabras - In My Own Words Opera Alive!

All-Access Pass Day Camp Music! Words! Opera! Residency

Colorado Children’s Chorale ChildrensChorale.org Inside the Orchestra InsideTheOrchestra.org The Alliance Project Sponsored by the Scientific and Cultural Facilities District (SCFD) SCCollaborative.org

For Educators Music! Words! Opera! Workshop Music! Words! Opera! Residency Online Resource Center

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Photos by Karl Allen, Kira Horvath, Mark Kiryluk, Erin Joy Swank, Amanda Tipton

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FAMILIES, ADULTS & LIFELONG LEARNERS Out of the Box

Enjoy the magic of live music theatre any time, any place with Central City Opera’s extraordinary traveling performances. From one artist to a full 90-minute staged show with multiple artists, call us to arrange a presentation just right for you. We can even bring the keyboard.

Available year round, region-wide Cost varies based on program and distance

Choices include (but are not limited to): •

Regional Tours 2-4 day tours anywhere in Colorado/Wyoming offering community and school performances and master classes (3-4 singers and pianist)

• 60-90 minute staged variety musical shows based on selected themes; current offerings include Love Notes, Smooth Operator and Saints and Sinners (2-4 singers and pianist) •

One-act operas or programs suitable for family or adult audiences, like En Mis Palabras - In My Own Words, How the West was Sung or a 60-minute version of The Ballad of Baby Doe (this year only)

• On the Go programs designed exclusively for you (1-3 singers and pianist) •

• Family Matinee and other family activities during the Summer Festival - see pg. 11 for more details

Amahl and the Night Visitors Beloved holiday opera

by Gian Carlo Menotti

la traviata, 2015

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smooth operator

Powerpoint presentations and speakers on topics such as Colorado History; Opera and the relevance of the Arts; and specific operas and musicals (The Ballad of Baby Doe, Tosca, etc.)

The story of a magic star, a shepherd boy, some royal visitors, and an act of unselfish love that brings on a miracle.

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FOR MORE INFORMATION: CentralCityOpera.org/outofthebox

December 11, 2015, 7:00 pm December 12, 2015, 2:00 pm December 13, 2015, 2:00 pm Trinity United Methodist Church 1820 Broadway St, Denver, CO 80202 Tickets: $20 students and $30 adults (subject to change)

FOR MORE INFORMATION: CentralCityOpera.org/amahl 303.292.6700

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CHILDREN, TWEENS AND TEENS All three of these fast-paced, imaginative and interactive programs are updated regularly and designed to support K-6 standards and curriculum. Children are invited on stage to help create scenes from stories originally envisioned by the likes of Shakespeare and the Brothers Grimm, and to learn about the magic of telling stories through song.

The Great Opera Mix-up

To give your plot far more zest, add characters on a quest.

Learn that opera is musical storytelling – with plot, characters, conflict and resolution. This is great preparation for story writing units or reinforcement of literacy elements for all grades.

Grades K-6 Available year round Performed by 3 singers and pianist $450 single/$550 double (back to back) Colorado Academic Standards: Music, Reading, Writing and Communicating, World Languages Resources available online.

Eureka Street

There’re all kinds of folks on Eureka Street just waiting to share their adventures!

Take a journey of discovery on Eureka Street where you’ll meet and mingle with funny and fascinating opera characters: prospectors, divas, lumberjacks and more. Scenes by Rossini, Shakespeare and other favorites bring history, music and stories to life.

Mozart & Co.

(top) mozart & co. (bottom) eureka street

FOR MORE INFORMATION: CentralCityOpera.org/children education@centralcityopera.org 303.331.7026

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Along with dreams they brought their songs; that’s how the West was sung.

Western frontier history comes alive when seen through the eyes and music of Leadville Silver King, Horace Tabor and his beautiful wife Baby Doe; Molly Brown, known as unsinkable; Clara Brown, freed slave and Colorado pioneer; and other assorted frontier characters. What did people do for entertainment before the iPad and Netflix?

Music! Words! Opera! Residency

“I believe the most significant strength of the MWO Residency is the creative process that the students experience. For some of them, the stage is frightening at the beginning of the year, then it slowly becomes more and more comfortable. The confidence the students acquired is priceless! Now it’s a challenge to get them OFF the stage!”

– Music Teacher, Southmoor Elementary, Denver Nothing jumpstarts kids’ creative juices like the opportunity to write and perform their own musical story. The process of researching/scripting a story and writing/composing lyrics and music develops problemsolving and team skills while providing practical applications of core disciplines like math, reading/ writing and social studies. Experienced teaching artists are available to assist in applying methods from Opera America’s Music! Words! Opera! curriculum.

Opera Alive! Teaching Artists

A company ‘specially organized to sing and play a little opera for YOU. Mozart and fellow composers mined the riches of great literature and fairy tales to create comic masterworks with great appeal for children.

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How the West was Sung

Performed by 3 singers, narrator and pianist $450 single/$550 double (back to back) Colorado Academic Standards: Music, Reading, Writing and Communicating, Social Studies Resources available online.

Cost varies

ben franklin’s flashback, southmoor elementary

Cost varies

Producing opera requires knowledge from many different fields. Augment curriculum in STEM subjects as well as music, theater, dance, and world languages with hands-on workshops or master classes led by proficient Teaching Artists. Sessions in singing, composition, instrumental technique, stagecraft and movement are available, as well as popular STEM workshops like Science of Singing (sound waves and harmonics of the voice) and Cooking and Fractions (math in recipes, bodies as instruments needing fuel to function).

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Grades 3-8 Available year round

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FOR MORE INFORMATION: CentralCityOpera.org/children CentralCityOpera.org/youngadult

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TWEENS AND TEENS

EDUCATORS Music! Words! Opera! Workshop Professional Development for Educators

En Mis Palabras - In My Own Words I’ll never be free unless I dare to be me.

An original one-act bilingual opera, En Mis Palabras – In My Own Words addresses the universal theme of adolescent development – finding your own voice and learning who you are amid parental expectations and peer influences. Fifteen-year-old Ana Maria feels stifled by her strict father just as he is bewildered by her wish to be herself. Her wise Abuela and brother Rodolfo try to help, but both father and daughter must experience a crisis to learn tolerance and understanding.

A bilingual resource guide explores cultural and family traditions, immigration and Latino history in Colorado and includes lesson plans in language arts and social studies.

All-Access Pass Day Camp Elevate Your Art in the Rocky Mountains Spend 3 days in Central City with an “all-access pass” to Central City Opera. Participate in master classes in singing, stage combat, and movement taught by internationally-acclaimed musicians and master teachers. Go behind the scenes and observe a rehearsal, shadow the production departments (such as Wigs & Makeup, Costumes, and Props), and have the opportunity to meet the singers and actors of the fifth-oldest opera company in the United States. Fee includes one meal per day and tickets to The Ballad of Baby Doe and Tosca (subject to change).

“Our daughter can’t stop raving about what a great day she had up there. I have a feeling visits to the opera will be a regular thing in our future.”

– Parent, Denver, CO

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en mis palabras

Grades 6-12 Available year round Performed by 4 singers, pianist and classical guitarist $650 single Colorado Academic Standards: Music, Reading, Writing and Communicating, World Language, Social Studies, Theater Resources and related lesson plans available online. (English and Spanish) Dates: July 29 - 31, 2016 $300 Limit 20 participants, grades 7-12

Explore new worlds and unleash your creativity at Central City Opera’s annual professional development workshop. Master teaching artists will guide you through a process you can replicate and adapt with your own students, using opera to enhance core subjects while developing 21st century skills – communication, collaboration and creative thinking.

Get ready to help students discover the magical connections between language arts, social studies, science, mathematics and fine arts though musical storytelling. Music! Words! Opera! methods and curriculum apply to all grade levels K-12.

July 2016, dates TBA (5 consecutive days) University of Colorado, Boulder Workshop fee: $99 CU graduate credit fee: $70 per credit (subject to change)

INCLUDED IN THE WORKSHOP: • CU graduate credits (optional for an additional fee) • Hands-on experience creating an original opera • Lesson plans, study materials, and instruction in how to implement a project with students • Tickets to a performance at the Central City Opera House (small fee applies; optional for non-credit participants) • A week of some of the best fun you’ve ever had!

• Central City Opera is committed to assist with the implementation of this program with your students This professional development workshop is for any educator – elementary classroom teacher to high school language arts teacher or music specialist – and is particularly effective for teaching teams.

FOR MORE INFORMATION/ TO REGISTER: CentralCityOpera.org/ professionaldevelopment

Online Resource Center

CentralCityOpera.org/resourcecenter FOR MORE INFORMATION/ TO REGISTER: CentralCityOpera.org/daycamp

Central City Opera offers resource materials for teachers, students and opera goers. Teacher/student resource guides connect performances to classroom curriculum and learning goals for K-12 students. Study materials and activities may also be used by families or adults who wish to learn more about opera or specific productions.

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THE 2016 FESTIVAL Nina Odescalchi Kelly FAMILY MATINEE Moore’s The Ballad of Baby Doe August 2, 2016, 2:30 pm Tickets: $20 Central City Opera House

July 10 - August 8, 2016

The Ballad of Baby Doe Tosca

(subject to change)

Later the Same Evening

Opera Insider resource guide available online.

The Impresario

FOR MORE INFORMATION: CentralCityOpera.org/familymatinee

CentralCityOpera.org/2016

OTHER FESTIVAL FAMILY EVENTS: Opera Inside Out and Take a Child to the Opera These events are great introductions for opera novices or for opera pros who want to know more about what goes on behind the scenes. Check our website for exact dates. Sponsored by the Central City Opera Guild.

Sponsors Our thanks to the following foundation and corporate sponsors who so generously support Central City Opera Education and Community Engagement.

The Anschutz Foudation Virginia W. Hill Foundation Mabel Y. Hughes Foundation

Schramm Foundation Henry R. Schwier Charitable Fund Galen and Ada Belle Spencer Foundation

We also thank the many individuals whose gifts support the arts in education.

Education Partners

Scientific and Cultural Collaborative

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the ballad of baby doe, 2006

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Roger Ames, Resident Teaching Artist

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CentralCityOpera.org/education

303.331.7026 | education@centralcityopera.org

CONTACT CENTRAL CITY OPERA:

BOOK A CENTRAL CITY OPERA EXPERIENCE TODAY!

Central City Opera House Association 400 S. Colorado Boulevard, Suite 530 Denver, CO 80246

Permit No. 907 Denver, CO

PAID

Non-Profit Organization U.S. Postage