Highland Pupils To Enjoy Special Opera Performances
A collaboration between Scottish Opera and The Highland Council means that two top quality performance events for young people will take place in Alness and Inverness this week.
On Thursday 226 pupils from Golspie, Brora, Alness, Kingcraig, Grantown and Laggan Bridge will join four costumed opera singers, an actor and the Scottish Opera orchestra for a newly written performance - “Great Minds and Inventions” which focuses on the lives and works of some of Scotland’s most famous historical characters.
Scottish Opera’s Head of Music, Derek Clark has set specially commissioned vocals to some of the most famous operatic tunes and Great Minds and Inventions will take place on a special stage set which will be constructed at the Averon Leisure Centre in Alness. The show will be very interactive and the audience of pupils have already been busy rehearsing three songs which they will perform as part of the event alongside the professional singers and musicians.
On Thursday 4 and Friday 5 younger children aged between 3 and 6 years will get the chance to enjoy and take part in an interactive opera called Auntie Janet Saves The Planet which takes place at the One Touch Theatre in Eden Court. This magical musical tale takes children into the woodland world of Auntie Janet and her friends. Many of the characters they meet are species threatened with extinction in Scotland and the children must accompany them on a quest to save their forest homes.
Scottish Opera has been working with The Highland Council to teach young children the songs and movements in advance of the show so they can get the most out of the session and really feel part of the performance. Teachers have also been able to use specially designed resources in their classrooms to introduce pupils to the characters and the fictional woodland world where the opera is based.
The performances for Highland schools are completely sold out although there are still limited seats available for the public shows with tickets for sale through the Eden Court Box Office.
The Highland Council’s Music Development Officer Norman Bolton said: “We really welcome this opportunity to work in partnership with Scottish Opera to provide two really exciting performances. The Sounds of Singing event in Alness has proved to be very popular with all the places getting booked very quickly. It will give pupils a chance to see and hear a professional production but at the same time feel very much part of the performance.
"Aunty Janet Saves The Planet will be a very exciting experience for 3 to 6 year olds, a young age group often over-looked when it comes to arts events. The opera introduces the young audience to important environmental issues through music and song and and I am sure all the young people coming aloing will find the opera and the creative characters they will meet very entertaining.”
Scottish Opera's Director of Outreach and Education Jane Davidson said: “This is about introducing our youngest citizens to the biodiversity of our ever-changing world and the need to nurture it - in a fun and accessible way.”
ENDS