The West Australian Opera Education team is visiting schools in Narrogin, Kojonup, Cranbrook and Denmark, before completing a one-week school residency in Albany.

Opera in Education is part of West Australian Opera’s commitment to introduce a number of touring and community outreach projects to make opera a live, relevant and accessible artform for all Western Australians.

West Australian Opera’s Albany Tour & Residency will comprise of two workshop streams:

1. Smarter than Smoking Opera in Education Workshops: These are fun and interactive 1-hour workshops that will introduce students to singing and classical music. Students will learn a brief history of opera, and skills for warming up, dealing with nerves, and communicating through music. Students will participate in vocal and body warm-ups, breathing exercises, tongue twisters, rounds, and even join in for a song or two. The Education Team – comprising a pianist and two members of the West Australian Opera Chorus – will share their love of opera with students, and also perform excerpts from well-known operas to demonstrate the full range of operatic singing.

2. Residency Workshops: These are intensive workshops designed for students with a particular interest or talent in the performing arts, including students studying the arts at a TEE level. Students from 4 schools in Albany will come together at host school Albany Senior High for four afternoons during the residency week (24-28 August) to work creatively in a constructive team environment. The Education Team – comprising a pianist, two members of the WAO Chorus, and a Director Young Artist – will teach the students specific skills, techniques and processes for developing a creative work, then rehearsing and presenting that work in front of an audience.

The students will perform a creative work they have developed over the workshop period on Thursda, August 27, from 6pm, in the Performing Arts Theatre at Albany Senior High School. Teacher, parents and members of the community are encouraged to attend.

Schools that will be participating in West Australian Opera’s Albany Tour & Residency: Narrogin Senior High School, Kojonup District High School, Cranbrook Primary School, Denmark High School, Albany Primary School, St Joseph’s College, Bethel Christian School, Parklands Primary School, Albany Senior High School, Great Southern Grammar.