I would like to share this article from the current issue of Saint David's Magazine about a signature interdisciplinary learning experience our fifth graders had last fall and winter with the Metropolitan Opera, which culminated in their original mini opera production: "A Hero's Journey." The article is written by Alexis Aoyama, Assistant Headmaster, Head of Upper School.
As we began to settle into our new facility in 2018, new programmatic opportunities emerged. Through a connection of a Saint David’s parent and a long-time supporter of the arts, Music Curriculum Chair Jeff Moore and I met with Marsha Drummond, the Director of Education at Metropolitan Opera. An introductory meeting quickly turned into an exciting brainstorming session, leaving us energized by the possibilities for collaboration. Over the next ten months, our faculty team and the educational team at Met Opera worked together to plan a signature learning experience which would begin in September and culminate with a student performance in March.
The project began with a simple idea: to introduce our fifth graders to grand opera through an interdisciplinary, student-driven performance project. While opera may not seem like a natural fit for ten- and eleven-year-old boys, the many facets of opera — the athleticism of the opera singers, the world-renowned orchestra, the scale of the sets, the intricate costume design, the historical connections, the live animals, and the casts of hundreds of performers— provide multiple entry points for discovery. The first phase of our year-long exploration of opera centered on helping students develop an appreciation for the various aspects of opera.
 |
| Boys enjoying Met Opera singers' presentation during the unit kick-off at Saint David's School. |
We selected Puccini’s iconic La Bohème as the foundation for students’ work. To introduce the boys to La Bohème, several young performers from the Met led a workshop for students in Otto-Bernstein Theatre, providing boys an up-close-and-personal experience of the sound of the operatic voice. As Mimi (Liana Guberman), Rodolfo (Victor Starsky), and Musetta (Kirsten Scott) performed and debriefed several scenes from La Bohème, the singers demonstrated how they convey emotion and advance plot through their use of their voice and gesture. During the question and answer session, the performers debunked some of boys’ misconceptions about opera and shared what distinguishes opera from other genres. Boys were amazed to learn that opera singers do not use microphones. Instead, singers learn specific vocal techniques, which require muscle control and body awareness, to allow them to project their voices to the back of the opera house.
With new insight into opera, boys visited Lincoln Center to take a backstage tour of the legendary opera house. Seated in the red velvet seats while stagehands were setting up for a performance that evening, students learned about the history of the Metropolitan Opera, dating back to 1883, a process screenwriters use.
At the same time, students embarked on a deep-dive into how music can help shape a narrative. As boys gathered around the piano, Mr. Cabaniss led them through close readings of their own original poetry and then invited them to imagine how the emotions and ideas expressed through these verses might be turned into music. The result was a compositional process that fostered both individual expression and creative collaboration.
In their music classes, a string trio, recorder cohort, percussion ensemble, and chorus rehearsed the pieces they wrote for the overture, interlude, and arias, which they would perform alongside the professional singers in their production.
Finally, students worked with teachers and practitioners from both Saint David’s and the Met to construct the sets and costumes necessary to bring their work to life. Boys created sketches of backgrounds and then voted on which ones they wanted to use for their performance. Bill Sohmer, a retired scenic designer from the Met, worked with the boys to help them transfer their 8½-by-11 drawings to large panels, which would serve as a backdrop in Otto-Bernstein Theatre. Using the grid technique Mr. Sohmer taught them, small teams of boys independently outlined their classmates’ designs on the large screens. At the same time, in another studio, boys were busy designing their costumes and props.
 |
| The Big Night - "A Hero's Journey" in the Otto-Bernstein Theatre |
On March 3, with a newfound appreciation for opera and an understanding of how composers use music to convey ideas and emotion, the Fifth Grade boys, accompanied by young professionals from Met Opera, performed their original opera “A Hero’s Journey” for a full-house in Otto-Bernstein Theatre. The student-driven production was uniquely Fifth Grade — from the sacrificial cow to the fanfare for hamburgers — and to hear the mezzo soprano (Kirsten Scott), tenor (Timothy Stoddard) and baritone (Kim Suchan) bring the boys’ lyrics to life was quite extraordinary.
Through our school’s one-of-a-kind collaboration with the Metropolitan Opera, boys worked side-by-side with professional singers, writers, composers, and scenic designers to create and perform their own original work. In addition to developing an appreciation for the multiple facets of opera, boys learned collaboration skills that will serve them well, long after Fifth Grade.