Students at Nine Elementary Schools Produce and Perform Original Operas

Students in nine elementary schools have been working hard this year to stage performances of original operas. Each opera is a student creation from start to finish.

Farmland Elementary School was the first school in Montgomery County to produce an opera, in cooperation with the Metropolitan Opera Guild’s “Creating Original Opera” program to train classroom and music teachers. A partnership with the Washington National Opera, along with funding from the Maryland State Department of Education and the U.S. Department of Education, enabled the program to expand to nine elementary schools.

This year, the Washington National Opera (WNO) will take a national leadership role in the Met’s Creating Original Opera program as WNO becomes the sole provider of teacher training.

Dr. Charles Drew Elementary School students performed their opera, The Big Mistake, earlier this month. Additional opera performances are scheduled at these elementary schools:

Beverly Farms: Tropical Trouble, May 22, 7:30 p.m.; May 23, 1:45 p.m.; May 24, 7:30 p.m.

Burtonsville: Tournament Trouble, May 23, 10 a.m. and 2:30 p.m.; May 24, 2:30 and 7 p.m.

Farmland: Fighting Fears: The Return of the Friend, May 24, 10:30 a.m. and 7:30 p.m.; May 25, 7:30 p.m.

Greencastle: A Twist of Destruction, May 24, 9:30 a.m. and 2 p.m.; May 25, 2 and 7:30 p.m.

Fox Chapel: Once Upon a Genius, May 31, 1:30 and 7:30 p.m.; June 1, 9:30 a.m. and 7:30 p.m.

Kensington Parkwood: All Because of a Fishing Net, June 7 and 8, 7:30 p.m.

New Hampshire Estates: Empathy’s Echo, May 17, 10 a.m.; May 18, 10 a.m. and 7 p.m.

Potomac: The 10th Planet, May 24, 10 a.m. and 7 pm.; May 25, 10 a.m. and 7 p.m.