LA CLEVIQUE KIDS OPERA COMPANY
La Clevique Kids Opera Company is starting its eighth year at Farmland Elementary School. This year we are composed of 27 "clever and unique" fourth graders, their classroom teacher, Mrs. Alberta Fisher, and our school's music specialist, Miss Deborah Scesa.
Each year we form our own in-school opera company. The entire company works collaboratively to develop the theme, thesis, characters, characters needs and metaphors, settings as well as plot framework. Concurrently students are completing job applications and being interviewed for their work position in this year's company. Once the collaborative part is complete, work teams will focus their efforts on learning about, developing the skills for and then employing those skills in support of the production of this year's opera.
La Clevique Kids Opera Company is unique among in-school opera companies with its corporate partnership/mentoring relationships with The Washington Opera and Global eXchange Services. These groups have been able to support the development of knowledge about, skills needed, and an appreciation of the various work groups' functions.
The Washington Opera through its education department and Debra Evans, Education Director, has supported us by allowing our entire company to visit "behind the scenes". They have also set up yearly visits for our company to their costume and prop warehouse and opportunities to talk with their director of costume design and prop master.
Further, they have facilitated wig and make-up workshops with Elsen Associates. Additionally, individual work groups have had the opportunity to meet with their counterparts at work - public relations, production and stage managers, composers and writers, carpenters, electricians, and set designers. The Washington Opera invites our company to attend technical and dress rehearsals.
Global eXchange Services, until their move to their present location, provided our company with a very dedicated group of weekly volunteers who assisted our students in their work groups with every facet of our opera company's operations. Global eXchange Services has continued their support by providing the opportunity for different work groups to meet with their counterparts in a corporation (corporate America) at their job - to learn about methods used by adults in their workplace to deal with the same or similar kinds of issues that confront our students in their company positions - personnel problems, finance (allocation of funds), spreadsheets, organizational issues, records, and technology issues. Global eXchange Services volunteers have provided their expertise and time in the development and maintaining of this website.
La Clevique Kids Opera Company is also unique among children's in-school opera companies with its national reputation and recognition. The company has been interviewed with Placido Domingo on Ted Koppel's NIGHTLINE. The company has been presented on NBC's "Today Show" and National Public Radio's "At the Opera". Further, members of the company have testified before the Congress for the NEA to ensure future arts education funding.
La Clevique Kids Opera Company has been in Opera America Magazine as well as performing at Music Educators National Conference and most recently having been included in Music Educators National Conference's book Music Makes the Difference. The company has been included in articles by the Washington Post as well as in features in local community newspaper.
An OPERA is a play in which music is the essential and prominent part, featuring arias (solo songs) and choruses with an orchestral accompaniment
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This web site was built with help from our friends at Global eXchange Services