Chase Elementary Charms First Time COT Teaching Artist

Alyssa Sorresso, COT Teaching Artist

As a first time teaching artist for COT, I wasn’t quite sure what to expect. I had mainly worked with teenagers in the community and juvenile facilities prior to COT, so the thought of teaching 30 elementary school students each class threw me for a loop.  How would they act? Would they love us? Ignore us? Overwhelm us with their energy?

I was pleasantly surprised when Linden and I had our first day at Chase Elementary.  The students were so refreshing in their enthusiasm for music, and the teachers so supportive and involved.  I could see these kids wanted to get up and move! They loved playing a fun game called Zookeeper where they physically interacted with each other to form different animals. They were also captivated by the Magic Flute’s “Queen of the Night” aria and had thoughtful insights into what the Queen felt as she sang.

We discovered Mr. Dzja’s class had been hard at work on opera vocabulary during the strike. Each student made and decorated an opera fan with a musical term! Super adorable, and boy, did they know their vocabulary! This extra step by Mr. Dzja is the kind of involvement we feel from all of our Chase partners.  The school had even procured a movable keyboard for us so we could practice Solfege and teach our first song, “Se Vuol Ballare”. 

I’m really looking forward to continuing our journey into opera with this school.  The students have already demonstrated a growth in confidence with their performance skills; we had one girl in Ms. Martinez’s class volunteer to sing a song out of the blue! Her voice was wonderful and her bravery set a clear bar for her peers.  I’m excited for more risk-taking and creation from our Chase students!

Me posing with the student's fans

How to Play Zookeeper:

Participants are animals in a zoo, and the lead facilitator is the “Zookeeper”.  Participants are instructed to mingle about the space, filling up any space they see.  The Zookeeper has 5 commands, 4 of which are animals that participants have to create with each other:

1^st animal: Octopus. Requires 2 participants to stand back-to-back, link arms and wiggle arms like a 4-armed octopus.

2^nd animal: Centipede.  Requires 3 participants to stand in a line, each placing their hands on the shoulders in front of them.  Participants them move together like a centipede.

3^rd animal: Bird. Requires 4 participants , one forms a beak, two form wings behind the beak, and the 4^th creates the tail behind the wings.

4^th animal: Beehive (concededly not an animal).  Requires 5 participants, 4 join hands in a circle around the 5^th who is in the middle.  The 4 participants on the outside spin in one direction, while the person in the middle rotates in the opposite direction.  Everybody buzzes like bees.

Participants who fail to link into an animal, or if there’s a group forming an animal with too many participants, are “out” and become Zookeepers with the facilitator.

5^th Commend: Zookeeper.  The Zookeeper can shout “Zookeeper” at any time and all participants MUST freeze.  They cannot move except to blink or breath. The Zookeeper will then, without touching, try to make the each participant laugh.  Whoever laughs becomes a Zookeeper with the facilitator, and will help the make other participants laugh the next time the command is used.  Because of this, the “Zookeeper” command is usually used after a few rounds.  All of the “out” Zookeepers will help with this command.  The last person standing is the next Zookeeper.

COT Opera for Teens 1st Day

Jessica Lane, COT Education Intern

How lucky COT Education Manager, Linden, and I are to have a job where we can pop into class with 25 high school students who are excited to study opera! 

Yesterday was the first day of the After School Matters COT for Teens program.  Linden and I went to help out Teaching Artist Christopher Richard as his teaching partner, Marta Johnson, couldn't be there.  They went through their normal first day stuff of going over the rules, writing down phone numbers, taking attendance, getting everyone signed up online, and finding everyone.  We passed out scores for the one act opera the students are doing this semester, Trial by Jury by Gilbert and Sullivan. 

 

The students were excited about the opera and it was obvious that some of them had done their homework on the operetta and who Gilbert and Sullivan were.  One student was in a past production of a Gilbert and Sullivan opera done by COT Opera for Teens, Pirates of Penzance.

After all the work was done we got to have fun.  Chris introduced us to a singing chant that can help the group learn names and gets all of us singing and creating motions to go along with our name.  It was so much fun and you can find the chant below.

Linden and I also get the pleasure of taking some of the students on a field trip this Friday to a production of Gilbert and Sullivan's Patience.  Its a one act operetta like Trial by Jury and there are some COT for Teens alumni in the production.  We will be taking the El from downtown to Savoyaires in Evanston so there should be plenty of time for pictures then.  

My only regret is that we all got so into spending time with the students that we didn't take one picture yesterday!  That just means we will have to go back another time. 

The Chant!
This chant is done as a call and response with everyone in one large circle.  The leader starts with going through the lines a couple times just getting used to the words and melody.  Once everyone is comfortable  then you can go around the circle and have everyone sing their own name line.  The entire group repeats the name and then you move onto the next person.  When the entire circle is done you go back to the lines again.  Each time around the circle you can add new rules like using a motion with your name, singing the name of the person next to you, or changing the melody. 

Lines: Freedom is sweet. (Freedom is sweet)
          It's on the beat. (It's on the beat.)
          It's got freshness. (It's got freshness.)
          It's got zestness. (It's got zestness)
Name Line:  It's got ____(name)______ (It's got ___(same name)___)

It also helps to keep everyone together by clapping on the 2 and 4 or making up your own beat!

Opera and Theater Games

Richard Blakeney, COT Teaching Artist



At Hampton we have gotten the year off to a great start. The students at Hampton are learning lots while having fun. Building an ensemble in the classroom creates a safe place for discovery and exploration. At Hampton we are eagerly learning “Se Vuol Ballare” and “A Boy and Wolf”. Memorization and rehearsing can be boring and cause student to loss interest if not done in a fun way. Please enjoy the passage from Dr June Cottrell’s book” Creative Drama in the Classroom, she decribes the importance of “Reinforcing Bi- Modal Learn” in the arts classroom. Translation- get students out of their seats and imaging, role playing while memorizing or doing logical activities. They will be more engaged and learn more. Much to this end I offer two games we have been learning at Hampton. The Singing Opera Circle is a game that requires the Instructor to model good practice techniques for student while they are still learning the text.  It reinforces bi- modal learning and creativity in young performers. Sequencing the Story is a game that teaches students to work in a group, while using rhythm. Students learn to focus better on their line and when they should be delivered. The instructor challenges the students to “pick up the beat” or “cue pick up” to better tell a story. These are theatre games I have modified over the years to enhance performance for young actors and singers.

“Traditionally, most classroom learning emphasizes the logical, rational, linear, and verbal functions of the left hemisphere of the brain, yet many children(and adults) learn best when they can employ visualization, intuition, imagination and metaphoric, and spatial thinking- processes resident in the right hemisphere. Ideally, all students ought to use and strengthen their abilities with all functions, with teacher’s recognizing that for some learners the emphasis on left-hemisphere learning does not fit their preferred learning style. Opera learning in the classroom, offer experiences in which both hemispheres play major roles, with a considerable amount of traffic, both directions, over the corpus callosum, that remarkable bridge that connects the two halves of the human brain." “(June Cottrell, Creative Drama)

The Games:
 
The Singing Opera Circle

1. Students take their chair and make a circle in the center of the room.

2. The instructor tells the group, to copy every word exactly the way it is called.

3. When the students are responding to the instructors call, students must stand up and move to the next seat to the right.

4. Students repeat both vocal and physical gesture offered by instructor.

Instructor side notes:

- Calls must be over exaggerated to receive best response from students

- If the students have a problem repeating a word or phrase, clap the phrase while making the call and have students repeat with the clap.

- Once the calls are fluent and fast the instructor should start sing or rapping calls

- Instructor models good singing technique with call - For best responses no vibrato should be used and singing in head voice with no weight - will receive best response for the groups of young learners

- Instructor should model different gestures that enhance physical storytelling of the poem.

- Instructor repeats until 90% of students respond together

Sequencing the story

1. Students stand in a circle

2. Students are assigned a line of poetry

3. Students establish a sequence, when the first student recites their given line of poetry, then making eye contact and pointing across the circle to the student with next line in the poem.

4. Students continue until all the students in the circle have recited their given line.

5. Repeat until the students are Fluent with sequence.

Instructor Side note

-Students are told that this is a rhythm game, and that they should pick up the beat. There should be no beats between sequenced line responses.

-Students are encouraged to speed up the sequence or slow down by responding after or before the beat.

-Some groups of students require a few rounds of “Sequencing with Numbers” to get the gist of the game- same rules, simply replace numbers with lines of poetry.

-Students should repeat this game until no one drops a beat

- Larger groups work best when learning this game.

Add- ons

- Once students have established a great sequence, have them add a gesture. Once each student has chosen a gesture for their line of poetry, have students work to make a statue of the poem.

- Each students repeats their line of poetry and gesture and freezes before the next student in sequence begins there line of poetry. When each student freezes they make physical contact with the person before them. Then process continues until everyone has delivered their lines and gesture and the statue is built. Student repeat and try to use different gestures to tell the story.

Young Artists sing at New Trier High School

Jessica Lane, COT Education Intern

Hello blog readers, I first want to introduce myself.  My name is Jessica and I am the Fall Education Intern here at COT.  I have been here for about a month and am loving it!  How lucky I am to not only work with the Opera for All program and COT for Teens, but I also get to tag along with the Young Artists.

Yesterday we went to New Trier High School's Freshman Campus to work with their choirs.  Many of them had never been to an opera, and were far from calling themselves opera fans. Their director, Tim Estberg, wants to change that.  He invited the Young Artists to perform (a slightly shortened, 1 act, version of) The Magic Flute for his choirs and the choir and Young Artists sang the finale together!  The Freshman Choir only had a couple weeks to prepare, but they sounded amazing.  If they sound this great at the beginning of the school year, I cannot wait to hear their concert in the Spring. 

The students loved the performance and the Young Artists are so talented, the entire group watched in silence.  When Papageno was looking for Papagena at the end there were some Freshman students who wanted to volunteer to be his Papagena if the real one didn't show up!  They were just so funny, and really enjoying themselves.

The Queen of the Night tries to win Tamino over.

Sarastro comforts Pamina after his guard threatens her.

After the finale, students were given a chance to ask the Young Artists questions.  Instead of the silly questions I was expecting, the students really wanted to know what it was like to be an Opera singer.  I could tell some of them were considering it for their future.  Having a great choir director like Tim is a step in the right direction!

COT Young Artists answer the student's questions.

Being in a school and seeing how students view the experiences COT offers them reminds me of why music and arts education is so important.  All of the students are going to see The Magic Flute at the Harris Theater on Sunday with their teachers and families and I can remember what it was like for me to be at the opera for the first time.  They will see the stars of COT's Magic Flute as well as the Young Artists they met Thursday on stage.  For some of them, like it was for me, it could be the moment they decide to be an opera singer.  How exciting!

-Jessica

PS: You still have two more performances left to see COT's Magic Flute, so don't miss out on this really awesome re-imagining!

Week 2 at Saint Vincent de Paul and Opening Day at Marillac!

Justin Callis, COT Teaching Artist

This week was our first day with our new students at Marillac!  It was really wonderful to see how excited our students were to be in the classroom, and just how energetic they were.  They really amazed us with their operatic singing and their enthusiasm.  We got right to work teaching them our opera gestures for the Magic Flute and getting them pumped for the performance!  It was so much fun taking them to see the opera the next day.  The bus ride was a bundle of energy and excitement, and the kids really enjoyed the field trip.  They ate lunch in Millennium Park, were interviewed for a video about Opera for All, and then sat down to the first act of the Magic Flute.  It was amazing how much they remembered about the opera from what we had taught them the day before, and it was truly rewarding to know they were paying that much attention to what we had said.  The kids were amazed.  So many of them had never seen an opera before, and watching them discover that it was fun and accessible was a real joy.  I can't wait to see them again on Tuesday!

Week 2 at Saint Vincent DePaul Center was a lot of fun.  We spent the first half of class playing games, and getting the kids excited to be there.  Even after such a long day at SVDP, the kids still had so much energy, they were doing handstands every time I looked away!  The games we played, Zip Zap Zop and Boppety-Boppety-Bop highlighted teamwork and focus, and I think the students got a lot out of it while still having lots of fun.

Justin teaching Boppety-Boppety-Bop

Then, we talked about Mozart.  Only a few of the students had heard of him, and they were all astounded that someone who lived so long ago was still so important to the world of music today.  We also taught them the opera gestures all of the other students were learning, and they found the story exciting and interesting.  And they were only a little disappointed when they discovered that the story was all made up!  I can't wait to get back in the classroom with them to continue our work on tableaus!

Justin

A New Adventure at St. Vincent DePaul Center!

Bryna Berezowska, COT Teaching Artist

A group of students filed onto the stage in the St. Vincent DePaul Center not knowing what to expect from their first day in this “Opera Class”. Bryna and Justin, the Chicago Opera Theater teaching artists, enthusiastically sang their introductions to the somewhat startled kids. They were met by a few giggles, applause, and a lot of wide eyed wonder that these regular looking people were opera singers. They played a name game that incorporated rhythm with clapping. The students sang their name to the beat followed by something that started with the same letter as their name. Bonus points were given to anyone who could think of something relating to music, dance or acting!
A brief video of the performances from last year’s student groups was played for the kids and you could see the excitement building on their young faces. Over the next year they will get to create their very own show!  

 Through the games and exercises played during the class, it was revealed that there were many budding dancers, actors, artists and singers in the mix. For example they played one ‘question’ game that allowed students to raise their hands and demonstrate skills in a fun way. Some of the questions were as follows. “Who has been in choir? Who has taken a dance class or loves to dance? Who can make the best funny face? Who can beat-box?” The students enjoyed participating in the game and the teachers learned a great deal about the students and their backgrounds! The students also enjoyed acting out the first act of Mozart’s Magic Flute with props and costumes! At the end of class they brainstormed some brief ideas for the final show! You could tell they couldn’t wait to get started on their new adventure in this class!

Here is a picture of the Teaching Artists Justin and Bryna, joined by their partner teachers Carl and Dominique! They are having a great time playing with the props used in the first class! 

 

New Challenges at Hampton!

Lisa Golda, COT Teaching Artist 

We've had two sessions thus far at Hampton with Ms. Paz, Ms. Ochoa, and Mr. McFarland, and so far, the year is off to a magical start! We have two classes of lovely and lovely youngsters, and our oldest group is chatty but creative and very musically talented. Although Richard is new to this school, and the kids can be tough, he has already captured their trust, fascination, and respect with his amazing teaching approach. I have a video in which the kids cannot help but dance for joy and excitement as he sings with them, but yet are behaving and in total control of themselves. Sounds like a contradiction, but it isn't!



I am learning so much from the way Richard models and communicates expectations through theatre games, rather than lecturing about them (which NEVER works, anyway; but how else can one establish the rules? This way!). Richard also reminded ME, through his example, that students are fascinated when we perform what we are trying to teach them, rather than talking about it!

We know, though we forget, that a gesture, a sound, a facial expression, are worth a thousand words. This is the basis of theatrical performance, of course. And, everyone has heard about those teachers who can get a room of students on their side and in their seats with a LOOK. Try to explain that process mechanically (this is what you do with your body, your energy, etc. etc, blah blah) and you'll lose a group of elementary school kids. Communicate that to the students both through modeling of standards and by showing them with your own performance how exciting gesture and sound can be, and all of a sudden, you have a roomful of enthusiastic, impressed, inspired young actor-singers!

We used this concept in two ways. I taught two of our classes Se vuol ballare, a song they will be presenting at the Winter Preview in a few months, in just one class period, in this way. First, I explained the situation between Figaro and his boss the Count that precipitates the aria in age-appropriate terms. I had the students, many of who speak Spanish, find the Spanish cognates, such as ballare/baile and signor/senor. Then I performed it for them, in character as the Count, with all the menace and disrespect I could muster! They were instantly hooked and wanted to sing it with me because they were fascinated by the dramatic tension of the situation--Figaro is furious!--that I did my best to model in gesture, vocal inflection, and facial expression. Just teaching it to them by rote would have been boring and a chore. But they were, I think, fascinated by the angst in the situation. And I think they liked being entertained while they learned.

Richard had introduced the gesture/sound concept to them the first day by giving them five or six gestures and sounds to associate with characters in the Magic Flute; such as a pantomime of a flute for Tamino, or an outstretched hand and the famous theme (from Die Holle Rache) of the Queen of the Night. They will attend a dress rehearsal of the COT production of Mozart's , Die Zauberflote, The Magic Flute, next week (and base their own opera upon the themes of adventure and exploration evoked by COT's intergalactic setting of the work). This week, we reviewed those gestures, then had the kids act out other scenes in the opera as we gave them a synopsis of the plot. They were eager to act in the second class; which is quite unusual; and their choices were often quite clear and appropriate. This gets us off to a great start. They will no doubt be super excited after they see the show!

As we attempted to assess their takeways from the second day, we realized that themes of family communication (dysfunctional in the opera!) and tests were present in the work. We hope that the kids will understand that challenges in life, though they test your character, prepare us to tackle the next stage in our growth. Their comments on Pamina and Tamino's troubles included : "What kind of dad kidnaps his own daughter?" (Indeed). and "Maybe they had to take all those tests to prove they were worthy of each other." It will be fun to hear, after the opera, how they interpret what they see and hear; and also to take those observations and interpret them in their own story of challenge and discovery! We plan to ask them, again: Tell us, in a sentence or two, what the Magic Flute is about? What is the MORAL of the story? We'll see what they have to say!

The calm before the storm

Singeli Zaparaniuk, Summer Education Intern for Chicago Opera Theater

Spending your summer at Chicago Opera Theater during the off-season can be equally as thrilling as spending it while multiple productions are in rehearsal/performance- productions get pushed back, new Teaching Artists are hired, and Opera For All expands. This summer has been full of exciting changes both for Chicago Opera Theater and for the Education department. Brian Dickie’s office is now our new General Directors, Andreas Mitisek, who balances his time between Chicago Opera Theater and Long Beach Opera; school days have been extended and with that comes a new set of standards-the Common Core; and we’ve expanded our Opera For All program! Starting in a few weeks, we will be in 5 elementary schools and 2 after-school programs. But of course the excitement doesn’t last long as expanding and changing means more work and adaptability for all. Everyone on the education team has been busy working or re-vamping lesson-plans to make sure each lesson is in accordance to the Common Core as well as putting everything together for the 2012-2013 school year. We’ve even created a new education brochure to promote the Opera For All program.

Students at Reilly Elementary, Clinton Elementary, Hampton Elementary, Chase Elementary, Cameron Elementary, St. Vincent dePaul Center and Marillac Center will be creating their very own opera this spring (luckily this year we get 50 minutes of classroom time as opposed to the 45 minutes we had last year). In order to prepare students, we will be spending the fall semester teaching them the various aspects of opera (from writing lyrics to basic music theory). The students receive their very own opera journal in which they can keep track of their progress and reflect about the day’s lesson-whether it’s learning the proper etiquette of fanning, the elements of a plot, or basic rhythm structures they will have the necessary tools to put on a great production in the Spring.

It’s been fun working on the lesson plans and figuring out creative ways to implement the Common Core standards as well as keeping children engaged. I think opera class is going to be everyone’s favorite class this year!

Lost in New York, tech week at Reilly!


The tech week at Reilly was a whirlwind of rehearsing. We were deep in preparation for our June 8th performance, making sure that every career hat had its finishing touches, that hand-made Gucci bags were glittered and "glammed," and that dance moves were energized to their fullest. The kids have been having a ball using their newly finished props that they hand-made. We used the cardboard taxicab/cop car to its full extent, with kids "driving" it around the entire auditorium and catching criminals in the act. My favorite moment this week was when we assigned one girl to be the statue of liberty, and she was so excited that she asked me about ten question in the span of 3 minutes regarding her costume. "What will I wear? Do I need to get green makeup? How will I change clothes between scenes? I should wear my sandals, right? That's what the statue wears." It's encouraging to witness this kind of investment!

The dances to "Without You" and "Wild Ones" have really come together these past few rehearsals, and it's exciting to see the kids that were previously struggling take ownership of the movement. It's hard for me not to dance along because their excitement is contagious! Our biggest production number is definitely "Lost in New York," which we worked very hard to clean this week. I think the kids are beginning to feel much more confident about their entrances and exits, and we added some movement to help them remember when to sing. I'm incredibly proud to be a part of this production, and to help these kids learn what it means to work as a team. They are learning invaluable skills about respecting their peers, overcoming their feelings to work toward a bigger goal, and improving their performing skills while having fun. Break a leg, Reilly!

Amanda Compton

From Moscow to the South Pacific

Drew Smith, Education Intern at Chicago Opera Theater

These past few weeks have been a flurry of activity for both the Opera for All and COT for Teens programs. As the Opera for All students continue to work on their productions each week, they had a little break from their classes to come out to the Harris Theater for the final dress rehearsal of COT's Moscow, Cheryomushki. You could tell from the moment they got off the bus they were incredibly excited to see the show. Our teaching artists had spent the previous class session going over the plot and characters of the opera so they knew what to expect, but hearing their reactions during the show was a treat! There were "Oohs" and "Aahs"...and some funny "Ewws" (there was a bit of kissing after all in the show). The most magical moment of the opera came in the second half when a ballet was about to start on stage and streamers of blue fabric unfurled from the ceiling and fell to the floor. The kids gasped in amazement and were completely mesmerized by the dancers on stage. Needless to say that part of the opera turned out to be the overwhelming favorite for many of the kids. With a lot of my work with COT being "behind the scenes" it was incredibly rewarding to see first hand the impact that opera is having on our elementary students.

The COT for Teens recently finished up their program with a wonderful shortened version of Rodgers and Hammerstein's South Pacific. They had a busy semester with the Citywide Showcase in the mix, and all their hard work helped them put together a very fun and energetic evening with fantastic singing. Whether it was a solo or ensemble number, the students gave their all and the audience had a blast. They are such a talented group of high schoolers, and it was great to see them have the opportunity to show off their work at the opening nights of Moscow, Cheryomushki and Teseo as well. A small group of students performed a medley of selections from South Pacific in the lobby before each show. It was fun to see the patrons stop and listen, with more than a few of them tapping their feet along to songs that they knew well.

It's hard to believe it has already been four months since I started my internship with COT. It has been an incredible experience so far, and I can't wait to see everything come together over this next month as the Opera for All students work to finish their productions. They have been working hard on music, scripts, sets, props, and dancing...now to put it all together! Save some time the first week of June to see the performances, you won't want to miss them.

Reilly Elementary, Dancing Maniacs!

Amanda Compton, COT Teaching Artist at Reilly Elementary School

This week has been an incredibly energetic and exciting week at Reilly! We learned dances to "Without you" by David Guetta/feat.Usher, and "Wild Ones" by Flo Rida, with choreography by the lovely and talented Devery McCoy. After many weeks of intense focus on writing our script and composing our songs as a group, having some days that were entirely physical really helped the kids let loose. Their energy skyrocketed every time the music played, and they all really put forth their best effort to learn these challenging moves. We had a great moment where we paused from our dance practice and sat in a circle. Ms. Linden asked the kids how they felt about dancing, whether they like it or not and why, and what their favorite move is from the dances so far. As we went around the circle, almost everyone said they love dancing, and even like to dance at home in their rooms for fun! Even the two girls who said they did not like dancing admitted that they were glad to being trying something new. The most popular move was the "Justin Bieber" move, involving some very complex hand movements with coordinating legs. Come see the show (June 8th) to witness the astounding dexterity and vivaciousness of the Reilly students!

Art at Hampton, Staging at Clinton

Lisa Golda, COT Teaching Artist at Clinton & Hampton Elementary Schools

As always, this part of the year becomes very exciting as we plunge towards the finished product--our fully staged opera, with props co-created with our wonderful visiting teaching artist Sonja Henderson! Sonja often works first on drawings with the children to get them thinking about ideas for sets, costume pieces, and masks, for instance, which she can then incorporate into her work with them, or that the children can use as designs for their work! We worked on a canvas backdrop of the galaxy (stars, planets, comets), space suits based on packing tape molds, and yoga ball planets with the class who wrote a song about space discovery; mask designs for spooky space animals with the children whose song describes museum animals that come to life (who were, incidentally, brought back from outer space in a frozen state, only to thaw upon reaching earth! Of course! What could be more logical?) The other class sketched designs for a chocolate wall and wristbands for their roles as defenders of the chocolate-walled mirror kingdom! They love art class and their creations add so much to the final opera.

At Clinton, my teaching partner Kim, who is sadly soon to leave us, showed me the blocking she had created for the scenes between the kids' songs. I realized--we are in GREAT shape! We reviewed the choreography we had created for their songs. . .much of this was at first very rusty, but started coming back. . .which means that the entire opera is roughly staged. We now must just run transitions between scenes and classes. This is the first time that we are attempting to combine classes in some scenes, instead of confining scenes to one class at a time. . .we'll see if it works!

Amanda Grimm, COT Teaching Artist at Reilly Elementary School

Winter and spring are shaping up to be exciting seasons for the violin classes at Reilly! The students are making rapid progress as we have been reviewing our basic techniques for posture and, most importantly, excellent bow holds. The second grade class is learning the song 'See-Saw,' a nice melody that utilizes the first finger and helps coordinate string crossings between the E and A strings. The after school class is moving very quickly, having already learned two versions of the song 'See the Pretty Flowers.'. This song also uses the first finger and encourages practice of the Mississippi-Stop-Stop rhythm. They are also starting to use their second and third fingers - 'Twinkle, Twinkle' is just around the corner!

I am very proud of my violin students at Reilly. Beginning the violin is a very difficult task and every student has approached it with enthusiasm, hard work, and a great attitude!

Linden Christ, COT's Manager of Education and Outreach

Our very own Chicago Opera Theater for Teens were one of ten selected groups to perform at the Chicago Theater on 28th. They performed a medley of songs from South Pacific including: I'm Gonna Wash the Man Right Outta My Hair, Honey Bun, Some Enchanted Evening, and more. The thirty participating teens from our program come from schools all over Chicago and meet at Gallery 37 downtown to rehearse on Tuesday and Thursday evenings and Saturday mornings with our Instructors, Chris Richard & Marta Johnson.

Come and see the Chicago Opera Theater for Teens at the Harris Theater on our opening nights of:

Moscow, Cheryomushki on Saturday, April 14th at 7pm
Teseo on Saturday, April 21st at 7pm.

When Field Trips Attack!!!

Kimberly Chin, COT Teaching Artist at Clinton & Hampton Elementary Schools

Clinton is going very well! Unfortunately I wasn't there when they had their composition sessions with our guest composer, Adam, but when I came back and heard the songs the students have written with him, they were amazing! I would have thought that a professional composer wrote those songs himself. They also seemed to be very proud of their work, which is always gratifying to see. The most difficult song was Mr. Lee's "Devil Twins" song. This class really stepped it up when it came to composing a song. They were the most enthusiastic class when writing their lyrics so it's not surprising that they made their song so complicated.

I have only been to one art class that Clinton had with our guest artist, Sonja. I saw some of their finished products and also observed them working on current projects. Some of their finished products could have been displayed in a Museum because they were so good! My favorite was the huge submarine that they made out of cardboard and silver colored tape. I could already imagine how good this artwork will look in the performance. On top of the beautiful artwork, they enjoyed making them. All I heard were ideas and laughter in the auditorium. Sonja really helped make their imagination a reality.

We also started staging recently. All the students were super excited and many wanted to input their suggestions. Sometimes that is a problem because of time, but it was wonderful to hear their ideas and enthusiasm. Of course, we have incorporated as many ideas as possible. Mrs. Lee's class staged their zombie scene and they LOVED staging this. They also can't wait to learn the choreography for Michael Jackson's Thriller. We even have a "music video" section where one student will be rapping while others provide a beat. Even Mr. Coor's class, which has the most special ed. students, were super excited and followed directions well with staging. Trying to focus everyone's attention in this class is rare but they did really well when we staged their section.

I believe the biggest challenge at Clinton will be balancing the staging rehearsal days with the guest teaching artists days. This will include having enough time to rehearse, remembering staging, and memorizing songs, lines, and the dance. With their enthusiasm and hard work, I'm sure that we will have no problem making the performance a success.