“Opera Kids” is a documentary about the Creating Original Opera program that I had taught and also helped develop with my colleagues at the Metropolitan Opera Guild Education Department since 1990. It was directed by Max Sturm, who participated in the program as a 5th grader and later as an adult returned to his old school, where the program continues, to document the process of children creating their own original opera production. From the film’s website (which is chock full of interesting info about the program worth a deeper dive):

“Opera Kids follows the journey of a fifth grade class creating an opera from scratch. Behind the scenes, the stakes could not feel higher, as students take their first collaborative steps — writing, composing, designing, staging, and acting out their own dramatic musical creation. Their hard work leads to a culminating performance and lessons for a lifetime. Simultaneously, the founding members of “Creating Original Opera” recall the program’s groundbreaking past and its legacy that continues to this day.”

Here is the trailer for “Opera Kids”:

The Creating Original Opera program was the inspiration for the First Grade Opera program I had implemented with the first grade teachers at the Brooklyn Children’s School for twenty years (but then Covid 19 put the stop to that last April). It flourished during the 1990’s as one of the most highly esteemed in-school arts programs in the country.

The film is not yet available for general viewing, but when it is released, I will let you know.

Max Sturm interviewed me for the film in 2017. Here is a screenshot from the finished film to prove that some of my three hour interview made it past the cutting room floor:

And here are two screenshots from the “Opera Kids” website listing the teaching artists / champions (many longtime colleagues and friends of mine), school teachers, founders and students featured in the making of the documentary: