When do our cultural prejudices start to take root? That’s a question I pondered last weekend while attending a friends and family preview of the COC’s Ensemble Studio’s School Tour showcase of condensed versions of Rossini’s Barber of Seville and Cinderella. Barber featured singers (above, left to right) Simone Osborne, Neil Craighead, Adrian Kramer, Ileana Montalbetti and Riccardo Iannello; photo by Anand Maharaj.
The 45-minute performances played out in the Jackman Studio of the Joey and Toby Tanenbaum Opera Centre with simple piano accompaniment by musical director Christopher Mokrzewski. Parents (and some children) perched on folding seats while most of the kids sat cross-legged on the floor right in front of the singers.
School performances for grades K – 6 take place in gymnasiums even when an auditorium might otherwise be available: “We want the children to be as close to the action as possible,” says Katherine Semcesen, below left, the COC’s Senior Manager of Education and Outreach.
Heavy duty opera it was not although I saw one young patron stick his fingers in his ears during one of Rosina’s particularly piercing arias . The performance is leavened with a good deal of old-school pantomime, a device Rossini himself relied upon.
“The directors know from the get-go that these short operas will be performed for children,” says Semcesen, “so they play that angle up a bit for the kids. Cinderella also has moments like that, particularly related to the stepsisters.”
This year’s school tour marks the 30th anniversary of the Ensemble Studio and its outreach and education program: the tour kicked off last week and will log 53 performances before it winds up December 4.
The 2009 school tour is being underwritten by mining company, Xtrada. Schools pay $800 for each performance (maximum 300 students), which doesn’t come close to covering the entire cost of show, says Semcesen: “The tour is heavily subsidized by the Canadian Opera Company, which pays all the development costs and salaries.”
The Ensemble Studio is Canada’s premier training program for young singers and the school tour is considered an essential part of their apprenticeship. “It helps them to build stamina (eight performances per week) and to work on their performance skills,” notes Semcesen. Graduates of the program include Isabel Bayrakdarian, Ben Heppner, Joseph Kaiser, Alison McHardy and Kristina Szabo, who have all gone on to significant careers.
Ultimately, the school tour program is designed to broaden cultural horizons and to inspire youth who might never be exposed to live theatre, let alone opera. “We’re sewing the seeds of tomorrow’s audience,” concludes Semcesen.
WHEN/WHERE: Saturday, November 14, at the Joey and Toby Tanenbaum Opera Centre (227 Front St. East), 1 pm and 3:30 pm, $15 adult/$10 children (15 and younger) for each opera.
Photos (except lead pic) by Christopher Jones
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