Many teens and young adults might not realize how their passions intersect with the world of opera.
The Highlands Opera Studio’s new Opera Club is aimed at helping youth explore music, performance arts, set design, wardrobe creation, makeup and more, all through the lens of the operatic arts.
“It’s a really great way for youth and young adults in the community to experience opera and see it’s allowing us more access to different types of music and theatre,” said club director Corina Mansfield. “It all kind of goes together for opera.”
Any young adult older than 13 is invited to attend, “even if it’s not the opera that they love,” Mansfield said.
“Maybe they’ve discovered something in the musical arts that they want to aspire to, or even just have opera as a wonderful hobby. We don’t have to be great at things to love them.”
While the group kicked off meetings with a meet-and-greet Oct. 24 and a trip to Toronto to watch Carmen, regular events and activities will depend on the interests of group members. “It’s not going to be like every week or anything like that because I know that youth in the community are busy,” Mansfield said.
She and Highlands Opera Studio hope to show how the skills picked up in learning about opera can be transferred to other artistic practices, whether painting set backdrops or composing music.
Mansfield gave the example of sitting directly behind the conductor during a performance and being able to see how the music on the page translates onto the stage.
“The dork in me just goes insane,” she said. If a teen is interested in cosmetics, for instance, they could spend their time in the club picking up how different methods help tell stories about characters or accent how they appear to the audience.
“All these different interests, all these different professions, all these different careers and they come together to seamlessly make this amazing thing that you don’t think about it when you’re watching it.”
For more information on future meetings, contact Mansfield at info@highlandsoperastudio.com
