School Based Programs

Creating Original Opera Level I Teacher Training

Student Dress Rehearsal Program

Opera Look-In

District of Columbia Public School Partnership

Opera In Action - Professional Development for Teachers

Kids Create Opera Partnership

Washington National Opera Presents Metropolitan Opera Guild’s Celebrated

Creating Original Opera Level I Teacher Training

July 28– August 4, 2008

Creating Original Opera is a professional development program originally developed by Washington National Opera’s new Associate Director for Education and Community Programs, Bruce Taylor. The training is for general classroom and music educators where cross curricular connections are formed between various disciplines to enable students to write, compose, design, build, promote, manage, document, and perform an original work.  Language arts, math, science, visual arts, music, theater, social studies, technology, and life skills are integrated into the process.  

By the end of the week, you will have the necessary skills to develop an in-school opera with your students by incorporating Creating Original Opera into the school curriculum.

Fees:  $250.00 per school and $200.00 per teacher attending.

Please do not submit payment to after acceptance into the training program.

Housing:  University housing available for out of town participants.

Meals: Two complimentary meals per day included with registration fees.

Credits:  Non-degree graduate credit is available for an additional fee.

Application Deadline:  May 30, 2008

Please submit one application per teacher and one principal application per school. All applications from one school must be submitted together.  Click to download application forms:

Principal Application

Teacher Application

Questions:  Please call 202.448.3462 or e-mail coo@dc-opera.org.

Student Dress Rehearsal Program
Grades 7-12

The Student Dress Rehearsal program introduces area middle and high school students to opera by giving them the opportunity to attend the final dress rehearsal of Washington National Opera’s main stage productions. Join world famous tenor and Washington National Opera General Director, Plácido Domingo, as he makes his American debut as Bajazet in George Frideric Handel’s Tamerlano. With its familiar melodies, Giuseppe Verdi’s Rigoletto is a perfect first opera, and Richard Strauss’ Elektra is a one-act opera based on Sophocles’ Greek tragedy of the same name.  Each school group may only register for two operas and may request to be on the waiting list for a third.

Each student receives an eight-page Student Study Guide.  Each participating class receives an Educator’s Guide, excerpt CD (if available), opera libretto and a Washington National Opera Commentary on CD.  A WNO Docent visit is also offered and highly encouraged before attending the dress rehearsal.

Rigoletto – Giuseppe Verdi

Sung in Italian with English supertitles

Date: Thursday, March 27, 2008

Time: 7:00 p.m.

Location: Kennedy Center Opera House

Fee: $10 per person (includes students, teachers, and chaperones)

Registration Required. Please contact the Kennedy Center Registration Office at 202.416.8835.

Click here to download the Rigoletto Student Guide.

Tamerlano – George Frideric Handel

Sung in Italian with English supertitles

Date: Monday, April 28, 2008

Time: 11:30 a.m. (please note this is a daytime performance).

Location: Kennedy Center Opera House

Fee: $10 per person (includes students, teachers, and chaperones)

Registration Required. Please contact the Kennedy Center Registration Office at 202.416.8835.

Elektra – Richard Strauss

Sung in German with English supertitles

Date: Wednesday, May 7, 2008

Time: 7:00 p.m.

Location: Kennedy Center Opera House

Fee: $10 per person (includes students, teachers, and chaperones)

Registration Required. Please contact the Kennedy Center Registration Office at 202.416.8835.
Click here to download the Elektra Student Guide.

Opera Look-In: Don Giovanni

Grades 3-6

Washington National Opera’s cornerstone education program, the Opera Look-In begun in 1990, is a sequenced program designed to explore what opera is, how an opera is put together and also how opera reflects its time, culture, and creators. The sequence includes:

• A dynamic, in-theater performance
• Professional development for every participating educator
• Study materials, lessons, and resources aligned to national standards and local curriculum
• WNO Docents to provide a pre-performance, in-class introduction to opera for every participating class

Don Giovanni is presented in a 50-minute, narrated performance, hosted by ABC 7’s Maureen Bunyan, that includes demonstrations of musical and technical special effects as well as a performance of scenes with full staging, costumes, and orchestra.  Sung in Italian with English supertitles, the performance and program is accompanied by extensive preparatory materials.

Fee: $5 per person (students, teachers, and chaperones) 

Registration: Please contact the Kennedy Center Registration Office at 202.416.8835.

NOTE: Registration includes professional development, study materials, a Docent visit, and performance attendance.  Registered participants are expected to complete all aspects of the Opera Look-In Program.

Professional Development Workshop

Date: Wednesday, October 17, 2007

Time: 5:00–7:00 p.m.

Location: Washington National Opera Studio, 6925 Willow Street, NW, 3rd Floor, Washington, D.C. 20012

NOTE: Educators who will be bringing students to the Opera Look-In and attend the Professional Development Workshop are also invited to attend the final dress rehearsal of Don Giovanni on Tuesday, October 23, 2007, at 7:00 p.m. in the Kennedy Center Opera House.

A Docent visit is scheduled upon registration.

Opera Look-In Performances

Date: November 13, 2007

Times: 10:30 a.m. or 12:30 p.m.

Location: Kennedy Center Opera House

District of Columbia Public Schools (DCPS) Partnership

The Washington National Opera and District of Columbia Public School (DCPS) Partnership offers students and teachers a unique opportunity to explore how opera reflects its time, culture, and creators.  Beginning with in-class preparation with WNO Docents and attendance at the Opera Look-In: Don Giovanni, students examine Mozart’s classic opera and 18th century Seville, Spain. Students then reflect on and connect the opera’s particular moment in time to their own cultural identity (i.e. school, community, nation, and world).  The partnership continues throughout the year as students and teachers develop, with WNO Teaching Artists, a work of art that connects the opera to the DCPS curriculum.  Works of art, such as a song, story, dance, or visual art piece, are unique to the students’ shared experiences with Don Giovanni.

DCPS educators also participate in the online Partnership message board and the professional development series Opera In Action.  The $150.00 Opera In Action workshop fee is waived for all DCPS Partnership educators and Professional Learning Units are available after the completion of the course. Two Opera In Action sessions are mandatory for new partnership schools. 

Date:  September 2007–April 2008

Location: DCPS Elementary Schools

Fee: $1.00 per student

Registration and questions: please call 202.448.3462 or education@dc-opera.org

NOTE: Registration includes all fees for the Opera Look-In Program and Teaching Artists visits.  Registered participants are expected to complete all aspects of the District of Columbia Public Schools (DCPS) Partnership. 

Opera in Action:  Creative Continuing Education for Educators

The five-part professional development series, Opera in Action, is designed to train educators to integrate opera into music and general education curricula using both arts learning and arts integration approaches. Elementary through middle school educators explore opera and its connection to core curricula with an emphasis this season on Mozart’s Don Giovanni. Led by Master Teacher Deborah Scesa, educators learn new strategies and teaching methods to effectively weave opera into the language arts, mathematics, and social studies by creating lessons and materials to meet District of Columbia, Maryland, and Virginia learning standards.  Professional development (DCPS Professional Learning Units) and graduate credit through The Catholic University of America are available. Note: Participation in the Opera Look-In program is not required to attend this professional development series.

Dates: 

Session I - Monday, September 10, 2007, 4:30 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.

Session II - Wednesday, September 26, 2007, 4:30 – 8:00 p.m.

Sessions III & IV - Saturday, October 27, 2007, 9:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.

Session V – Thursday, January 24, 2008, 4:30 – 8:00 p.m.

Location: Washington National Opera Studio, 6925 Willow Street, NW, 3rd Floor, Washington, D.C. 20012

Fee: $150 Includes resource materials and dinner at each session; group discount available for three or more teachers attending from one school. Need-based scholarships are available. Additional fee for graduate credit through The Catholic University of America.

Registration:  Please download the registration form here.

Questions: Contact the Washington National Opera Education Department at 202.448.3465 or e-mail at education@dc-opera.org.

Kids Create Opera Partners

Washington National Opera offers a unique partnership program designed to provide the highest quality supplemental support for schools who are implementing the Music! Words! Opera! or Creating Original Opera curriculum in their classrooms. Kids Create Opera Partners is a year-long partnership that helps to further engage students in arts learning by bringing the opera world to life as they both create their own opera company and produce an original opera.  Each partnership is specifically designed to accommodate the school in cooperation with the educator team, school principal, and WNO Education staff.

Every Kids Create Opera Partner School:

• Attends the five-session professional development seminar Opera in Action: Don Giovanni free of charge ($150 value per teacher).
• Attends the Opera Look-In: Don Giovanni (additional fee of $5 per person).
• Hosts nine visits from WNO Teaching Artists (three from a composer and six from a singer/director) throughout the entire school year at different stages in the opera creation process.
• Participates in the KCOP Creative Forum for educators, students, and their families.
• Tours the WNO Costume Studio.

Kids Create Opera Partner Schools may request…

• A Washington National Opera Education staff member to contribute a presentation at parent meetings, PTA meetings, and/or In-Service events.
• Informational interviews, shadowing opportunities, or a class visit with Washington National Opera professional staff (Including Marketing, Public Relations, Production, Stage Management and Costumes).
• A backstage tour of the Kennedy Center Opera House (if available, for up to 30 participants, additional tours may be available for an additional fee).
• A wig and make-up demonstration presented by our resident wig and make-up designers.
• Additional needs or requests negotiated on a case by case basis.

Fee: $325 per kids opera company

Application Deadline: July 20, 2007

Important Program Dates:

Orientation: Thursday, September 6, 2007, 4:30 p.m. – 6:00 p.m., Washington National Opera Studio

Program Fee Due: September 30, 2007

Opera Look-In Professional Development Workshop:

Tuesday, October 17, 2007, 5:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m. Washington National Opera Studio

Don Giovanni Dress Rehearsal (Partnership Educators only):

Thursday, October 23, 2007, 7:00 p.m. Kennedy Center Opera House

Opera in Action Professional Development Series:

Session I - Monday, September 10, 2007, 4:30 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.

Session II - Wednesday, September 26, 2007, 4:30 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.

Sessions III & IV - Saturday, October 27, 2007, 9:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.

Session V – Thursday, January 24, 2008, 4:30 – 8:00 p.m.

All Sessions at Washington National Opera Studio

Opera Look-In: Don Giovanni:

Tuesday, November 13, 2007, 10:30 a.m. or 12:30 p.m. Kennedy Center Opera House

KCOP Creative Forum:

Saturday, January 26, 2008; 9:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. Washington National Opera Studio

APPLICATION PROCESS

For Renewing an Existing Partnership:

For those schools who have been engaged in an existing partnership for the past one or more years. Must have participated in the partnership during the 06-07 school year.  If you are re-joining the partnership after a lapse of one or more years, please follow the new partnership application guidelines.

• Applications should be written in a proposal format.
• Include Application Cover Sheet (PDF Link Here)
• Collaborative Partnership: Please answer the following questions:
• Why do you want to continue with this partnership?
• What do you see each opera company (yours and ours) bringing to this unique partnership?
• How will you seek to integrate and highlight what WNO can offer your opera company into your existing structure?
• What will you seek to improve in our partner relations for this coming year?
• Is there anything you would like to see happen this year differently from previous years?
• Please list three specific Goals unique to the 07-08 partnership between your opera company and WNO.
• List several objectives that will help you achieve each goal. (Objectives should include measurable statements of anticipated experiences and learning outcomes.)
• Create a calendar of proposed dates in which you plan to implement the offerings of WNO listed above.
• Include a budget for your 07-08 opera company including anticipated production costs and a strategy for achieving your budget goals. Please include any outside grant and donation support.
• Please include a letter of support from your principal that is specific to this year’s partnership. 

Application for a New Partnership:

For those schools who have been trained in the M!W!O! or COO curriculum and have implemented it in their school for at least one year.  If you have not been trained in M!W!O! or COO, or you have, but many years have elapsed since you have implemented the curriculum in your school, you may apply by submitting an application proposal along with work samples from your previous opera study and creation program. 

• Applications should be written in a proposal format.
• Include Application Cover Sheet

Part I:

• Program and School Community: Describe your school’s history, mission, goals, current programs, partnerships, and activities.
• Organizational Capacity: Describe how you are well-positioned to implement this proposal request.

Part II:

• Collaborative Partnership: Please answer the following questions:
• Why is your school seeking this partnership with WNO?
• What do you see each opera company (yours and ours) bringing to this unique partnership?
• How will you seek to integrate and highlight what WNO can offer your opera company into your existing structure?
• Please list three specific Goals unique to the 07-08 partnership between your opera company and WNO.
• List several objectives that will help you achieve each goal. (Objectives should include measurable statements of anticipated experiences and learning outcomes)
• Assessment Plan: Summarize the assessment methods/strategies you will use to evaluation your program (e.g., records, surveys, interviews, pre- and post-tests, community feedback, etc.). Please be specific. How will the students be involved in the evaluation process?

 Part III:

• Create a calendar of proposed dates in which you plan to implement the offerings of WNO listed above.
• Include a budget for your 07-08 opera company including anticipated production costs and a strategy for achieving your budget goals. Please include all outside grant and donation support.
• Include Work Samples of previous program implementation. A work sample should include a video of your student’s performance and process work including timelines, lessons, and/or other related material.

Please include a letter of support from your principal specifically highlighting this partnership and how they will support your opera creation program and this partnership in your school.