Opera singer visits Delano Elementary

Posted on: Jan 28, 2020

Minnesota Opera singer and teaching artist Pablo Siqueiros is spending the week of Jan. 27-31 at Delano Elementary as the school’s second artist in residence program of the year. 

During the week Siqueiros is meeting with each class and explaining what opera is, how he became an opera singer, how opera differs from musical plays, and more. 

“Opera is a way that we can tell a story,” he told students, explaining that an opera performance is all singing with no speaking (as opposed to a musical that has songs interspersed with regular dialogue). 

Siqueiros also explained that opera singing differs from other genres in its volume and style, since opera singers generally do not use microphones to carry their voice over the sound of an accompanying orchestra. 

“We can all use loud voices to yell and scream, but those sounds are not very pleasant to listen to,” Siqueiros told students, explaining that it takes a lot of practice to be able to make music that is both beautiful and loud enough to be heard in a performance hall.

Siqueiros also read each class a humorous children’s story about an opera singer who tames wolves and outlaws in the Wild West through the power of music. The story incorporated operatic passages sung by Siqueiros so that students could hear portions of opera songs in both English and Italian. (See a brief video excerpt here.)

The program is titled “Opera Through the Eyes and Ears of Mozart,” and culminates in two 30-minute performances for elementary students by Siqueiros and partners from the Minnesota Opera on Friday, Jan. 31, in the DHS Performing Arts Center.
 

Post Categories: Elementary School