School and Youth Programs

The Education Department of Lyric Opera of Kansas City offers innovative programs designed to further music and arts education in schools and in the community. Our education staff works directly with teachers, parents and young people in a collaborative effort to create programs that make opera accessible and appealing to everyone. Whether you are young, or young at heart, you are invited to experience the magic of this powerful art form. To view a brochure outlining all of our upcoming Education and Outreach programs, click here.

We Are The Young Fund

Help inspire new generations of children through opera education.
In celebration of the 20th Anniversary of the Lyric Opera Education Department, those influenced by the programs have the chance to pass on the opportunity by making a donation to the We Are The Young Fund. In the past 20 years the Education Department has:

• • Reached 572,235 young people
  
• • Presented 26 different operas in schools, community centers, correctional facilities, and theaters providing opportunities for students to perform alongside professional opera singers
  
• • Created 10 nationally recognized, innovative programs for pre-school through 12th grade
  
• • Coached students to perform on the main stage in 17 opera productions
  
• • Formed a 20 year partnership with the Kansas City, Kansas School District, serving ALL elementary, middle and high schools in the district
  
• • Produced new works on topics ranging from Harriet Tubman and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., to teen bullying, HIV-aids awareness and beloved children's books.
  
• • Provided and continues to provide free voice lessons and master classes through the Ginger Frost High School Honors Artists program
  

Spring Break and Summer Opera Camp (9-18 years old)
There are no ghostly tales shared around the campfire, but oh, the stories they will tell after Lyric Opera Camp!
Nine through eighteen-year-olds are invited to attend these fun, music-filled day camps. Daily schedules include singing and movement, dramatizing and listening to music from upcoming main stage operas, and visits from Lyric Opera artistic staff and singers. Lyric Opera Camp helps young people to appreciate the many facets of opera and to develop as singers while making new and lasting friendships.

Spreak Break Camp
The 2012 Spring Break Camp dates are: March 12-16.
Download a 2012 Spring Break Opera Camp Registration Form

Summer Opera Camp
The 2012 Summer Camp dates are: July 30 - August 10.
Check back later for a registration form.

Lyric Opera Express (grades K-6)
Elementary school students sing and act in Hansel and Gretel.
Participating classrooms are visited by professional singers who help the students prepare for their opera debuts. Hansel and Gretel is an operatic adaptation of the Brothers Grimm fairy tale by Joseph and Paula Winans, with music by Mozart, Donizetti, Humperdinck, and Gounod. Simple costumes are created, and the class of new opera stars and four Lyric Opera Express performers take the stage to perform for the rest of the school. Comprehensive educational materials, including a student activity packet, CD and DVD, are provided. For more information on this program contact Paula Winans, Director of Education, by email at pwinans@kcopera.org or call (816) 471-4933.
Download a Lyric Opera Express program request form

Opera for Kids (grades 4-6)
Kids are the stars of the show!
Professionals from the Lyric Opera teach children in elementary grades how to work together to stage a successful production. Singing, acting, and creating costumes and sets are all part of the fun! Participating schools may choose one of two operas: Born To Freedom, a story of young people discovering and paying tribute to the contributions of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. or Never Lost A Passenger, the story of Harriet Tubman and the underground railroad.

Opera for Teens: One False Move (adolescent girls)
Teens are the stars of the show!
Middle school and high school girls perform in the opera One False Move, by composer Susan Kander. This opera is inspired by the national best-selling book, Odd Girl Out: The Hidden Culture of Aggression in Girls by author Rachel Simmons. The teens work with opera professionals and present this opera in high schools and middle schools. After each performance, a licensed mental health facilitator speaks with the audience about the causes for aggression in girls, answers questions, and provides suggestions for solving this very complex social issue.

Opera Heroines and Opera Heroes (adolescent girls and boys)
This nationally awarded program allows youth to examine life choices through opera study.
Each young woman attends the program with a significant female adult in her life, and each young man attends with a significant male adult. By looking at the lives of notable opera heroines and heroes, the difficult situations they faced and choices they made, a platform for discussion and dramatizing opera scenes is created. The program also features aspects of production, including costume design, make-up and wigs, and attendance at Lyric Opera rehearsals and performances.

Opera: Up Close and Personal (grades K-12)
Create your own program for your students!
Teachers, assisted by Lyric Opera educators, design their own package for their students based upon the production areas they want them to learn. Choose from an array of opera singers, make-up artists, scenic designers and wig specialists to visit a school. Depending upon the workshop design, students can become familiar with the sound of trained opera singers’ voices, learn about voice production with a group mini-voice lesson, experience a make-up or wig demonstration, and learn about scenic and costume design, careers in opera, and audience etiquette.
Download an Opera: Up Close and Personal program request form

Opera Matinees for Schools
Lights! Action! Opera!
Elementary and upper level students attend a dress rehearsal of the Lyric Opera production of Mozart’s Così fan tutte, sung in Italian with English subtitles, at the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts on Thursday, November 3rd, 2011 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. A school visit from Lyric Opera artists before the performance is included with prior scheduling. For information about scheduling contact Paula Winans at pwinans@kcopera.org.

Ginger Frost High School Honors Artists
Young singers receive voice lessons, master classes, and scholarships.
Lyric Opera provides opera instruction for high school students chosen to audition by their vocal music teachers. These gifted students receive training in Italian, German, French, and English diction, singing technique, acting, and audition and stage etiquette. Schools are selected based upon strong relationships between the high school choral teacher and the Lyric Opera Education Department.

Opera Teacher Services
Education is a lifelong process.
The Lyric Opera offers opera appreciation, choral conducting and vocal pedagogy courses for music and classroom teachers as well as all interested adults. College credit is available for this program. For more information on this program contact Paula Winans, Director of Education, by email at pwinans@kcopera.org or call (816) 471-4933.

Lyrikids and The Rainbow Connection
Opera school is now in session!
“Lyrikids” is the professional training school for elementary through high school youth who have attended Lyric Opera Summer Camp. Students attend weekly classes at the Lyric Opera and receive vocal and dramatic coaching to prepare them for performances in Lyric Opera productions. This year, singers from Lyrikids will receive instruction to perform in Turandot and in the world premiere of The Giver. An additional program, The Rainbow Connection, provides young singers with vocal coaching to prepare them to share their singing with Lyric Opera friends in retirement communities.

For more information about any of these programs, contact Paula Winans, Director of Education, by email at pwinans@kcopera.org or call
(816) 471-4933.