In-School Residencies

My First Opera introduces students in grades 2-5 and 6-8 to Opera and Musical Theatre through an 8-week arts-integrated residency with lessons in Theatre, Music, and Design! Students create new opera characters and write an original libretto (lyrics) to their very own operatic song. Students also learn theatre skills in character development, costume design, and set design. On the last day of class, professional POP singers will perform operatic songs that the students have arranged, and each student receives two free tickets to a POP show this season!

In Opera Explorers, K-5th grade students explore the introductory elements of opera through 6 weeks of lessons about the story, music, and design of an upcoming main stage show in POP’s season. Students learn about essential jobs in opera and everyday terms through fun and engaging activities. At the end of this program, students will officially be POPera Explorers and feel ready to attend the show they have studied in class, receiving two complimentary tickets to attend the live POP performance!

Transform your ELD, Dual-Language, or Spanish-immersion classroom or youth center into a musical story-land with ¡Cuentos Cantados! Hop aboard this musical journey with your 1-5th grade students for this 6 week residency and learn about Spanish history, art, and music through opera’s early European inception to its current home in opera houses throughout South, Central, and North America. On the last day of class, celebrate Spanish opera with professional POP singers who will perform operatic songs from famous Spanish operas right in your classroom!

POP's Young Directors Program empowers middle school & high school students through a 7-week hands-on experience alongside industry professionals! Using their own real-life stories as a jumping-off point, students will write, design, and direct their very own, original opera scenes starring professional POP opera singers. This program begins with an introduction to opera, followed by opera production skill-building, and ends with a performance of the students' new opera works right in your classroom.