News from the Noteworthy from The Glimmerglass Festival

Guild Makes Programming Available to Students

Central New York communities are fortunate to have easy access to the Glimmerglass Festival’s opera and theater productions during the months of July and August. However, many local children (and adults) have never experienced this art form in person.

The Guild of the Glimmerglass Festival has scheduled two “A Day at the Festival for Students” events this summer to make it easy for young people and their families or chaperones to learn about opera and to attend a performance. Resources and educational programs in July and August will prepare them for Glimmerglass Festival matinee performances in The Alice Busch Opera Theater. Each program begins at 10 a.m. with a tour of the theater, educational presentations and activities, and lunch. Performances begin at 1 p.m.

Sandra Cisneros, author of “The House on Mango Street,” has worked with composer Derek Bermel to shape her story of a young girl, Esperanza, into a new opera by the same name. The guild’s first “A Day at the Festival for Students” is for students in grades 7-12 and will take place on Monday, July 28. Discounted tickets for students and a chaperone are available until Thursday, May 15 at www.glimmerglassguild.org/resources on the “Resources” page. The website also includes a recorded interview that Cisneros did for area middle- and high school-students reading her book this year.

Children of all ages are invited to “A Day at the Festival for Students” on Friday, August 8 for the matinee performance of “The Odyssey.” Homer’s story was adapted into a one-hour youth opera, premiered in 2015 by the creative team of Ben Moore (music) and Kelley Rourke (libretto). The opera includes a cast of area children and two Glimmerglass Resident Artists. This year’s restaging will be in the festival’s opera theater. Free tickets can be reserved by calling the Glimmerglass Festival Box Office at (607) 547-2255.

This year’s student education programs have been partially funded by a grant from Opera Volunteers International. Educational material related to both featured operas is available at www.glimmerglassguild.org.

Kathleen Eisele is the chair of The Glimmerglass Festival’s Education/Community Engagement Committee.