SCORE! students to put on their original opera ‘When We Are Older’

Coming soon, a tale of grief, betrayal, lies and revenge! Is it a tragic opera by Mozart, Verdi or Wagner? Perhaps, a score by Andrew Lloyd Webber? No, “When We Are Older” is an opera conceived and written by Elgin-area children, ages 9 to 13.

It's the 23rd production of Students Creating Opera to Reinforce Education (SCORE!), a program run by Hamilton Wings, a local nonprofit created to help underserved children gain access to the arts.

Hamilton Wings conducts programs outside of school that develop communication and team-building skills by mining students' creativity through the arts. Each season's SCORE! opera is the culmination of a year's worth of efforts.

Hamilton Wings describes its latest opera as a “sweeping drama” of Crystal and Mia, whose deep friendship is blown apart by lies spread by a jealous schoolmate. Others are ensnared by the duplicity that follows, and the wounded feelings go unresolved for 15 years until a chance meeting in a coffee shop. Will Crystal and Mia finally get past their differences?

The drama unfolds at 7 p.m. Saturday, June 27, at the Elgin Community College Arts Center's Blizzard Theater, 1700 Spartan Drive. Tickets cost $12.

Creating something as daunting as an hour-long opera begins modestly, says Brittany Barber, executive director of Hamilton Wings, perhaps a story sketched out in crayons, then a libretto, and ultimately the finished product.

But the process can result in lifelong meaning for the students.

“It becomes a revelation that creativity and community can impact students' entire lives,” she says. “We might be witnessing a show created by brilliant children now, but I am fully convinced that each child will continue to amaze us for years to come.”

Student creators appreciate the process as well. Alina Estefan, a fourth-grade SCORE! participant, says she was initially hesitant to join when her mother asked. “At first I was shy, but now I’m happy,” she says. “I got more into the activities and I made lots of new friends.”

For more than two decades, Hamilton Wings has provided free, high-quality arts programs to socially or economically challenged students and families in the Elgin area with the belief that all children should have access to the arts.

SCORE! involves up 60 students who work with professional musicians and composers, writers, designers, and directors. Students receive 140 hours of training that includes an intensive summer rehearsal camp. Some SCORE participants go on to careers in the arts.

Barber, for instance, was a SCORE! cast member as a child growing up in Elgin. Hamilton Wings was created in 1996 by the late Risé Jones and her late mother, Ann Jones, an Elgin educator, to promote student leadership, self-development, and academic readiness.

Learn more about SCORE! at hamiltonwings.org/score or instagram.com/hamiltonwings/.

If you go

What: When We Are Older,” an hour-long opera imagined, written and performed by Elgin-area students, ages 9 to 13

When: 7 p.m. Saturday, June 26

Where: Elgin Community College Arts Center's Blizzard Theater, Building H, 1700 Spartan Drive

Tickets: $12