Education Matters

The Sarasota Youth Opera Brings Back Brundibár

By Ryan G. Van Cleave 

While it’s almost hard to believe that enough area youth come together each year to successfully perform a full-scale opera, it’s even more impressive that the program is open to every interested student age 8 to 18. Youth opera conductor Jesse Martins explains that there’s no audition required—they work with whatever level of ability the students have. “Through our performance program, the participants learn far more than just music. They also come away with life lessons and a better sense of responsibility—things people might not associate with a music program.”

About working with the SYO, Martins says that in some ways, it’s easier to work with kids than adults. “They’re very blunt, and hungry. They learn things fast, and they’re always willing to listen and adapt. They’re open to finding a different way of exploring the same emotion or musical phrase.”

That hunger and passion is being put to good use this November as they take on Brundibár, one of the most-performed youth operas of all time. Jewish Czech composer Hans Krása and librettist Adolf Hoffmeister created it for a 1939 children’s opera competition. When Krása got deported to the Nazi connection camp Terezín near German-occupied Prague, he found that the stage director of the original production had smuggled in a copy of the piano score. Krása immediately set about creating a youth cast to be accompanied by whatever instruments they had available. The official premiere was on September 23, 1943, in the Magdeburg barracks. Though performers were regularly deported out of the cast, they found newcomers willing to join in.

Over the next year, about once per week, Brundibár continued to be performed. Of the 15,000 children under the age of 15 who passed through Terezín, around 100 survived. Krása would compose several new works in Terezín before his own death at Auschwitz in 1944.

Despite the ominous backstory, this is the third time the SYO is performing Brundibár, which is actually a sweet, fairy-tale-like story about Annette and Little Joe who want to help their sick mother. They sing in the market to generate funds to help her, but an evil organ grinder named Brundibár chases them away. With the assistance of a dog, a sparrow, a cat, and other children, Annette and Little Joe are able to vanquish the villain. “While it might seem to be a very serious story,” Collins says, “it’s told in a light manner. What makes it profound is that it was performed in the concentration camp.”

In addition to the striking pop-up-book style set, what makes this production so powerful is the prologue created to provide context for the piece. Many groups add something to Brundibár because it’s only 40 minutes long, which doesn’t quite make for a full evening event on its own. While some youth operas pair it with another brief story or musical number, the SYO prologue uses words written by young people throughout the world who are living through intolerance, much like the context in which Brundibár was written.

Martins explains that “these aren’t the memories of adults looking 50 years back on their childhood, but the actual words of children, their experiences, brought to life by our young performers. It’s a big part of the night, and it has a deep element of real life in it that the performers embrace.” He adds that what makes it so special is to discover how incredibly wise children can be when they’re not clouded by politics or prejudices, as seen in how the prologue ends with this well-known quotation by Malala Yousafzai: “When the whole world is silent, even one voice becomes powerful.”

What a setup for an opera like Brundibár.

Stage director Martha Collins notes that the 87-member production is fully professionally staffed. “We don’t have lesser standards because of their age,” she says, because the performers take it seriously and learn a lot, even if they don’t go on to a musical career. “I still get emails from former students. One that I treasure came from a girl who was involved in a moot court as part of her final presentation for a law degree. She said that when she stood up in front of judges, she recalled what we’d said about projecting your voice and speaking with confidence.” Collins adds that she’s thrilled to see how so many kids blossom when given an opportunity like the SYO provides.

Brundibár will run on November 15 and 16 at the Sarasota Opera House. Come out and see for yourself why the SYO felt compelled to bring this vital, timely show back to our community once again.

For more information on the Sarasota Youth Opera, please visit sarasotaopera.org/youth-opera-program or call 941.328.1300.