Arts Education Initiative

Opera Cultura provides a number of services to school and school districts.

They include opera residency programs, music education residency programs, professional development workshops, and consulting services.

Who Am I – Opera Residency Program
K – 5 Music Education program

Music Made Easy – Making the Curriculum Connection
Music in the Classroom
Language Acquisition Through Music

WHO AM I - A Cultural Exploration through Opera

Artist in Residency Program

Using the art form of opera, students explore their cultural identity and develop skills as performers.

Investigate their family history
Write a group poem based on their family research and set it to music
Dramatize their work through opera
Learn about the operatic art form
Gain an understanding of three core music principles ( beat, rhythm, and melody)
Create, rehearse, and present an operatic scene based on their group work

The program will take place at the Luther Burbank School District, beginning in January of 2011

OPERA CULTURA VOCAL RESIDENY PROGRAM - San Jose High School ( 2010 program)

Currently, there is no vocal program at San Jose High School. It is a school with few arts resources and its student population is mostly Latino (75%). The director of the school’s Mariachi Program, Sofia Fojas, has sought to further develop the student’s vocal skills and expose them to other musical styles.

Beginning in January 2010, Opera Cultura provided a 20 week artist in residency program at San Jose High School and the commissioning of a new vocal work for the students by Hector Armienta.

The residency culminatted into performance by the students at their annual May concert and at MACLA in May of 2010. They performed Mariachi vocal repertoire and the new piece.

This program was made possible, in large part, from a grant from the Silicon Community Foundation's Donor Circle for the Arts.