Austin Opera
Austin Opera’s education programs present a variety of performances, activities and resources to support cross-curricular arts education for students in grades K-12.
For grades K-5: in-school Opera Treasure Chest experience!
Our main elementary education offering is our Opera Treasure Chest program. Participants receive one of our Opera Treasure Chests for 3 weeks, complete with 26 cross-curricular, TEKS-aligned lesson plans and activities. These activities are centered on Mozart’s The Magic Flute, Rossini’s Cinderella, and the basics of opera. The chests are also filled with books, puppets, and digital resources including videos and opera albums.
Teachers can close out the residency with OTC Live!, a 45-minute performance from one of our Austin Opera Teaching Artists, which rounds out the learning. Teachers and students often remark that this performance brings the magic of opera to life; one Round Rock ISD teacher said, “this engagement with the arts in the community is an unforgettable experience for the kids.” These performances can take place in your classroom, or in a school-wide assembly.
Registration opens in September, 2024. You can register here.
For grades 6-12: join us at the Long Center for Access Opera!
Participation in the Access Opera program is $5 per dress rehearsal ticket (for students and chaperones), and is always free for Title I schools. Participation includes dress rehearsal tickets, an accompanying Interactive Resource Guide, and access to a free in-school docent presentation.
This year’s productions all take place at the Long Center for the Performing Arts, and begin at 7:00 p.m.
Puts & Campbell’s The Manchurian Candidate (recommended for ages 12+): Thursday, November 7, 2024
The 2024–2025 Season opens at the Long Center in November with The Manchurian Candidate, the compelling operatic adaptation of Richard Condon’s 1959 political thriller by Kevin Puts and Mark Campbell – the same Pulitzer-Prize-winning team that created Silent Night. Winner of four Austin Critics Table Awards, this complex and gripping story of patriotism, corruption, political ambition, and eleventh-hour self-sacrifice will make its highly anticipated return to the Long Center stage after its 2016 Austin debut.
• Verdi's Requiem (recommended for ages 11+): Thursday, January 30, 2025
Declared an “opera in ecclesiastical costume” at its world premiere, Verdi’s Requiem is a monumental work for the human voice. Three star singers will make their Austin Opera debuts-soprano Leah Crocetto, mezzo-soprano Daniela Mack, and tenor Limmie Pulliam, joined by bass Wei Wu, last seen as Kôbun in The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs in 2022. The Austin Opera Chorus will team up with the professional members of Chorus Austin under the leadership of Austin Opera Chorus Conductor Cina Crisara.
• Puccini’s Madame Butterfly (recommended for ages 12+): Wednesday, April 23, 2025
The mesmerizing beauty and heart-rending tragedy of Giacomo Puccini’s poignant Madame Butterfly returns to Austin Opera in April 2025. In one of opera’s most heartbreaking stories, the young geisha Cio-Cio-San, affectionately known as “Butterfly,” is seduced by the dashing U.S. Navy Lieutenant B.F. Pinkerton. After a hasty wedding separating Cio-Cio-San from her family, Pinkerton abandons her to return to America. Cio-Cio-San raises their son with the help of her maid Suzuki and never loses faith in her true love, but when Pinkerton’s ship finally returns to the harbor three years later, her faith is replaced by devastating despair.
You can register here beginning in September, 2024.
For more details visit: https://austinopera.org/education/
Contact:
Andréa Ochoa
Director of Education & Community Impact
Telephone : (512) 610-7686
Email: education@austinopera.org