New school projects to celebrate 50 years of Scottish Opera’s outreach and education programme
Harriet Clifford
Monday, April 26, 2021
Initiatives include an expanded digital package for cross-curricular primary projects and a new production from Scottish Opera Young Company.
Celebrating half a century of its outreach and education department, Scottish Opera has launched further projects to increase music and arts engagement across Scotland.
For primary schools, the Company will offer a full package of projects for P1-7 (equivalent to Reception to Year 7 in England), including The Brassketeers, exploring brass instruments and maths, Tiny Chef, introducing Mandarin, cooking, and healthy eating, and The Last Aliens, combining opera and climate change.
In digital workshops from 10 May, Scottish Opera will also work with five primary schools as the first Scottish partner of Disney Musicals in Schools, supporting the schools to produce its own Disney KIDS musical over two years.
For secondary school students studying Music, Art & Design and Theatre Studies, Scottish Opera will create a resource around the staging of Donizetti’s L’elisir d’amore as part of its On Screen collection.
At the end of July, the Scottish Opera Young Company (SOYC) will perform on stage (outdoors) for the first time since April 2019. Currently rehearsing on Zoom, the group will perform a new production by Roxana Haines of Kurt Weill’s The Tsar Has His Photograph Taken.
Scottish Opera is also embarking on several health and wellbeing projects, including working with people with dementia and those struggling with breathing issues following COVID-19.
Scottish Opera’s director of outreach and education, Jane Davidson, who has worked with the department since 1984, said: ‘Since 1971, Scottish Opera has remained committed to its mission of engaging and enriching the lives of people from all corners of Scotland through opera. In these uncertain and difficult times, never has this commitment been so crucial and the need for positive and supportive musical experiences been as vital.
‘We are incredibly proud and excited to be at the start of the journey to bring live music back to the Scottish audiences of all ages. While the opportunities for digital interaction with our work continues to evolve and develop, it’s the combination of passion and sheer joy for sharing stories through music that will continue to drive us for the next 50 years.’
Many more projects from Scottish Opera’s education programme, including those that began during lockdown, can be found on the website. It is hoped that announcements about in person workshops will be made in the coming months.