Introduction

Probably the best introduction to Opera is through live performance. Several Opera companies all over the country have outreach programs and educational resources. Many of these companies will come to elementary schools for a reasonable fee. I have arranged several Opera Assemblies at my school. One particularly successful performance was by the West Bay Opera Guild. []. They sent out four talented singers and one accompanist for a performance of __The Barber of Seville__. The Opera was pared down to about 45-minutes, and was performed in English. They sent me information about the Opera several weeks prior to the performance. The information included a very simple libretto (Synopsys of the plot), coloring book style pictures of the characters for the younger students to color, and music to one of the choruses for students to sing along. I also received some recoreded music that included some listening samples of the arias that would be heard. They brought several costumes and accesories for a few of the older students to wear as "extras" in the performance. They included some other students as stagehands. The more opportunities students can have preparing for and participating in Opera performance experiences, the more they will benefit.