Opera Education Docents introduce opera to school students in the Houston area. Forty-five minute presentations have been developed for fifteen operas and include video clips of an opera and a prepared script. Docents select the operas that most interest them and prepare their presentations. Docents are usually required to make appointments with teachers prior to the presentations.
At least once a year, the Houston Grand Opera schedules a High School Night and two Student Matinees for one of the operas of the HGO season. By providing presentations for classes attending this opera, docents help students develop a background for the performance and increase their attention to and enjoyment of the opera.
If you enjoy teaching others, especially young people, about opera, join the docent force. Through this program, we are planting the seeds for future audiences.
Volunteer Guild docents want to introduce your students to opera. Teachers, from elementary to high school, can arrange for docents to make a 45-minute FREE presentation that requires the teacher to provide only a television and VCR. Programs are tailored to be age-appropriate and illustrate how opera relates to our lives with music, theater, and dance. Students will see their families and friends in the characters and themes.
Presentations are available for 15 operas. Selections include Aida, Carmen, Elixir of Love, Hansel & Gretl, La Boheme, Madame Butterfly, Porgy and Bess, Romeo and Juliet, Treemonisha, Tosca, and La Traviata.
Presentation includes:
Teachers can lead follow-up discussions on the opera as it relates to music, history, human relations, character education, literature, cultural diversity and other topics relating to any teaching module.
Teaching guides are available. Presentation of Treemonisha will soon be available in Spanish.
Contact Isabel Trainer at 713-628-2348, or email her at [email protected]