Sarasota Youth Opera to Offer Online Summer Camp June 21-July 2

May 12, 2021 – Sarasota

Sarasota Youth Opera’s annual Summer Camp enrollment is now open, and plans are under way for a variety of live interactive and participatory Zoom sessions in Chorus, Acting, Opera 101 (Opera history), Props & Sets, Wigs & Makeup, Costumes, Stage Management 101 (brand new course), and “Write Your Own Opera.” Classes will be led by professional singers, artists, directors, musicians, and technicians.

Camp sessions will take place from 10am to 2pm, Monday through Friday, between June 21-July 2. Tuition is $150 for the two-week virtual camp experience and participants will be shipped music and materials needed for project-based classes. All classes will be live, not pre-recorded. Reduced tuition is available for siblings, and tuition assistance is offered to families in need. Camp requirements include a free Zoom account (https://zoom.us) and either a cell phone, computer, laptop, or tablet with a working camera, microphone, and internet connection. The deadline to enroll is Tuesday, June 1, 2021. To register: https://form.jotform.com/YouthOpera/SYOSummerCamp2021. For more information call George Hemcher at941-328-1329 or email youthopera@sarasotaopera.org.

Young people learn how fun opera can be, on and off the stage. In the words of camper Aria, from Summer 2020, “The Sarasota Youth Opera Summer Camp is something I look forward to each summer. It offers a unique experience not only with singing, but language, dance, costumes, makeup, set design, and opera 101. The teachers and Maestri are the best and work hard to give us the knowledge that few people ever receive. I look forward to camp every summer!”

ABOUT SARASOTA YOUTH OPERA

Since 1984, Sarasota Youth Opera has given thousands of young people an opportunity to experience opera first-hand through participation in after-school choruses, Sarasota Opera mainstage productions, summer workshops, and fully staged Youth Opera productions. As the only program in the United States committed to presenting annual full-scale opera productions for young voices, accepting all who wish to participate regardless of skill level or ability to pay, Sarasota Youth Opera is a national model for opera education.

Youth Opera Choruses: Beginning at age 8, singers are placed in one of two chorus levels. Each chorus provides a setting for everyone to participate and progress at their own level as they gain greater skills and experience. Selections performed are made up of classical music, which includes opera and choral pieces in different languages. The choruses perform throughout the community in formal concerts and outreach events.

Opera Mainstage Season: Members of the Youth Opera are selected to join Sarasota Opera’s Winter Festival season, appearing in the mainstage children’s chorus, as supernumeraries (extras who perform non-singing roles) and for special roles written by the composer for children’s voices. In recent seasons these have included roles in La bohème, Tosca, and Carmen. Singers are involved in the complete production process – from early music and dramatic rehearsals to performing alongside opera professionals.

Youth Opera Productions: Part of Sarasota Opera’s commitment to young people includes the commissioning of new operatic works written for children and young adults. Six new works have been presented as part of this mission: Deadline (1989), Polly Pen’s Her Lightness (1993), Tom Suta’s Eye of Ra (1998), John Kennedy’sThe Language of Birds (2004), Daron Hagen’s Little Nemo in Slumberland (2012) and Rachel J. Peters’Rootabaga Country (2017). Members take part in the making of each opera, complete with professional staging, costumes, lighting, sound, and orchestral accompaniment.

Sarasota Opera • 61 N. Pineapple Avenue • Sarasota, FL 34236 • (941) 366-8450 www.sarasotaopera.org