All Ages Opera

Next Generation Opera

Kids who are exposed to the arts are more likely to grow up to be adults who appreciate and support the arts. Maybe elsewhere the opera world clings to the European canon and social exclusivity, but Seattle Opera decided years ago that it would rather be a vibrant, evolving member of the local arts community than a vestigial art form. Since then they have done a lot to cultivate the next generation of opera performers and audiences.

Young Artists

Many of the most popular artists on the Seattle Opera stage today are homegrown. Graduates of Seattle Opera’s Young Artists Program, a professional development program for emerging artists that ran from 1998 to 2013, include the beloved soprano Mary Elizabeth Williams and tenor Lawrence Brownlee.

But the opera’s current training programs are aimed at even younger singers. Teen Vocal Studio is Seattle Opera’s auditioned roster of twelve teen singers preparing for college and a career in vocal performance. Music Theatre Workshops are one-day to multi-week workshops delivered throughout the year, generally during school breaks. Next up are the spring break camps for first through eighth graders.

The Youth Opera Project is a comprehensive training program in partnership with Seattle Public Theater. Youth Opera Project guides kids through the entire production process, from stagecraft and acting to dancing, and of course, singing. The project is open to students age 7–18 of all experience and talent levels. It costs $950 but financial aid is available. The program starts with the school year in September and culminates with public performances of an opera at Cornish Playhouse in March.

Young Audiences

This year, The Youth Opera Project will perform Odyssey. Based on the epic poem, the local premiere of this new adaptation

explores the lines between heroism and recklessness, pride and hubris, perseverance and obstinacy. In recounting this timeless story, the Youth Opera Project examines choices that guide and foster our humanity.

-Seattle Opera press release

Since this program is all about accessibility and community, tickets are only $5 for kids and $15 for adults and financial assistance is available. There are only four performances, but I am going to try to make it to one of them. I saw one of the first “by kids, for kids” operas that SO put on, Heron and the Salmon Girl. It was quite different from the grandiose spectacle of a mainstage opera performance, but I enjoyed it very much.

That time I brought my 4-year-old with me, and it was a little too much for her. If you have really little kids, a better choice might be Opera Time at the Opera Center, an interactive musical story time for children ages 2–5. It’s offered on Tuesday and Wednesday mornings, with a free session on the first Saturday of the month starting in May.  

Bravo!

If you’re not actually very young and/or don’t have kids, but you’re opera curious, there’s always the Bravo Club. If you are between 21 and 39 you get season tickets for half off and they throw in a glass of wine at each performance. It’s a seriously good deal.

The Details:

Odyssey: A Youth Opera or Families

Music by Ben Moore
Libretto by Kelley Rourke
Commissioned by The Glimmerglass Festival, 2015

Performances:

7 p.m., Friday, March 1

2 p.m. & 7 p.m., Saturday, March 2

2 p.m., on Sunday, March 3

Cornish Playhouse at Seattle Center

201 Mercer St, Seattle, WA 98109

Tickets: 

Youth 18 & under: $5; Adults: $15. Purchase online.

Request financial assistance.

Performance running time: less than one hour.