Kindergarten children create and perform their own opera
SMITHFIELD – Cows demand a trip to the moon or else nobody gets milk.
So goes the plot to an imaginative opera produced, written and preformed by kindergarten students.
Helen Hellstern’s afternoon kindergarten class at Sunrise Elementary School is one of 147 school classes throughout Utah participating in Opera by Children, an educational program founded by Utah Festival Opera.
“Opera by Children is a mentoring process that involves every child in a positive, self-esteem building experience,” said Darla Seamons, director of public relations for UFO. “By integrating all of the arts into the core curriculum, this program builds community, creativity and communication.”
To create the opera, Hellstern’s class first had to get a little inspiration. Hellstern uses childrens’ books to get the creative process of writing an opera started. After reading many books at the beginning of the school year, the class decided to base their opera on a book titled, “No Moon, No Milk” by Chris Babcock. It is a story about a dairy cow that refuses to be milked until she gets a lunar adventure like that of her great-great-grandmothers, (the first cow to jump over the moon).
Although much of the plot is the same, the class used their creativity to create new scenes and characters adding to the story and giving it a unique flair. In Hellstern’s class there are three cows that demand a trip to the moon. Distraught farmers try to persuade the cows that the moon is no place for farm animals.
“Cows want to go to the moon but people say they can’t, cause cows can’t go to the moon,” explains Whitney Wood, a kindergarten student at Sunrise Elementary in Smithfield.
Whitney plays one of the three indomitable cows in the opera. She said she wanted to play the part of persistent bovine because, ” they like, talk the most.” After deciding on a subject for their opera, the next step is to write words and music. Although the help of a music specialist provided by UFO is used to get everything down on paper, the ideas are entirely the children’s.
“Everything is decided upon by vote,” Hellstern said. “This is totally the children’s opera.”
Children try out for parts in the opera depending on what suits their taste. In the opera version of “No Moon, No Milk,” there are parts ranging from cows to clowns to penguins and pachyderms.
Sets for the opera are designed by the children and are made of brightly painted cardboard refrigerator boxes. Costuming is just as creative.
“Opera by Children is great because there is usually one area for each child to shine,” Seamons said.
“My favorite part in the opera is when we say ‘yeah’ at the end,” said Kolton Lamb, who also plays the part of a cow. “Because you get to shout it out loud.”
“The value of this program has been hailed not only by the State Office of Education, parents and teachers, but also by the children themselves,” Seamons said. “We receive numerous thank-you letters from school children each year.”
Opera by Children has been running successfully for seven years in Utah and is expanding to same satellite schools in California, Idaho and Washington.
Opera by Children is available at no cost to teachers throughout the state of Utah. However, it takes the organization of a dedicated educator like Hellstern to make it happen. This is Hellstern’s fifth year participating in the Opera by Children program.
She does it for two classes, morning and afternoon. Her morning kindergarten class is performing an opera based on the popular children’s book “Snowmen at Night.”
“I do it for the growth of all these kids,” Hellstern said.
You can watch both of Hellstern’s kindergarten classes put on their operas as part of the Children’s Opera Festival, performing at the Ellen Eccles Theatre in downtown Logan, Wednesday March 30. The Children’s Opera Festival runs March 9-11, 15-18, and 29-31 performances begin at 7 p.m. Admittance is free and open to the public; no formal tickets are required.
-nnaylor@cc.usu.edu