Hunting Ridge students take Lyric Opera tour before producing their own

Students in Hunting Ridge Elementary School's fifth- and sixth-grade gifted classes recently experienced the opera from behind the curtain.

Under the supervision of their teachers, Sonja Nilsen and Michelle Esposito, and their music teacher, Amy Carroll, the students were treated to Lyric Opera's backstage tour. Then they headed back to Hunting Ridge, Palatine, to begin producing their own opera.

Hunting Ridge's opera unit is a long-standing tradition for the gifted classes. Over the years, this program has evolved into much more than just students "putting on a play." This year, they will be performing Gioacchino Rossini's "La Cenerentola."

To kick off this unit, the classes toured the opera house, going backstage to visit the dressing rooms, prop room, wardrobe, and hair/makeup. They even heard professionals practice in the practice rooms.

The students were able to see that there are many different jobs involved with creating each performance - many more than what is viewed onstage.

The process of producing their own show begins with the class studying the story behind the year's chosen opera. Students learn that opera is an age-old way of storytelling. They then break into groups and write portions of the libretto (or story) that will be performed onstage.

They reread and revise their work to match the libretto perfectly with snippets from the famous arias. Students even take on the task of costuming, gathering props, and learning to lip sync.

Of course, they will also act out the Italian language opera. Sixth-graders will be the stage performers, narrators, conductors, backstage and prop managers, and curtains and lights crew. Fifth-graders will simulate the orchestra during the performance.

Special area teachers also play an important role in this production. In music, Mrs. Carrol leads the classes through lessons in which they learn important opera vocabulary terms, watch and critique a professional production of the opera, and interview a professional opera singer.

The students write questions for the singer and the interview is recorded using their questions.

This all-encompassing project is highly engaging for students, and pushes them into an area of study they can often be resistant to learning. They often come out of the unit with a greater appreciation for opera, and a desire to learn more about it.

• Submit 'Your News' at www.dailyherald.com/share.