photo by Reina Santa Cruz
Audience members learned about different techniques used in opera at the Kids Music Club Concert series Saturday. For a performance from “The Marriage of Figaro,” University of La Verne students James Darrah and Chelsea Boyd asked for the assistance of three children from the audience. Cousins Brandon Miranda and Daniel Escalante, together with Caitlin Broad, were chosen to participate. Sarah Morales, another ULV student, joined them on stage as the character Carabino.”
Founders Auditorium was full of children, parents and some University of La Verne students last Saturday, as they attended “Kids Club Goes to the Opera.”
Scott Farthing and students from the music department held the program for the kids to help expose them to the high arts and to have some fun.
“Opera is considered a high art, you see it more in schools than contemporary or commercial type of music,” Michael Stallings, senior music major, said. “Besides exposing the kids to the music, this is an experience for them to participate and make noise because they will try and sing.”
The show started off with cartoons with classical music in the background to get the kids familiar with the music.
Once the cartoons ended and the families were seated, Farthing was introduced and brought out to the stage to start the show. He allowed the audience to start with vocal warm-ups to get the audience interacting.
ULV employees Stephanie Escalante, Andy Hakopian and Tanisha Hampton, just to name a few, brought their kids to the program and had some family fun.
During the warm-ups one voice stood out from the crowd. A voice that sounded much more experienced. It was Melissa Macintosh, a ULV voice teacher who is also an opera singer. She came to the program and sang a song for the audience which in translation is titled “Oh My Dear Daddy.”
Macintosh explained to the audience that to be as good as she is it takes a lot of practice and sometimes it’s a good idea to start by taking piano lessons.
After Macintosh’s performance voice students like Sarah Morales, Kim Reid and many others came on stage to do little performances. Some performances involved the participation of the audience and children were brought on stage to help perform.
Toward the end of the program there was a special giveaway. At the door parents were told to fill out surveys and the surveys were then used in a raffle at the end. There were two books that were given away.
The books were part of a long list of books that are about opera for children. A list of over 20 books was given at the door for the parents and children.
The first book was “When Marian Sang,” about Marian Anderson, an opera singer who was not allowed to perform on stage because she was black. The book had already been autographed by the author. The second book was “Brundibar,” the story of children in a Czech concentration camp.
At the end of the program parents asked questions and learned that it is a good thing to start kids off by having them take piano lessons but not voice lessons. Farthing explained that starting a child too young can damage their vocal chords. The best age to start them off with voice lessons would be 15-16 years old.
At the end of the show Hampton, who had brought her 6-year-old daughter Genesis to the show, listened as her daughter said the show was too short.
“I liked it. I liked the actors and sometimes I like to sing,” Genesis said. “It was too short, they talked a lot and there wasn’t a lot of singing.”
As her mother watched her she added that she liked the audience interaction with the kids.
“It kept the kids awake and involved,” Hampton said.
Amira Seyoum can be reached at aseyoum@ulv.edu.