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"Opera for Kids" - Carolina Morning News
◊ The State.com "Goldilocks
and the Three Tenors"
◊ American Profile Magazine "Giving
Opera to Kids"
◊ Sandlapper Magazine "Opera is for Children"
Goldilocks and the
Three Tenors
S.C. program lures kids to
the opera by telling familiar tales in song
By SARA FLUDD
The State.com
Staff Writer
If you think arias and librettos
could never grasp the attention of your child, think again.
Opera for Kids will come to Columbia on Saturday during the Five
Points St. Patrick's Day Celebration.
Ellen Schlaefer, founder of the FBN Opera Company, has been
committed to luring young fans into the world of opera for nearly 10
years.
"I believe that to be informed citizens, people need to be exposed a
wide variety of things," Schlaefer explained.
"I use opera because it is a culmination of all the performing arts
- movement, music and story language."
The company, based in Chapin, has two seasons each year - fall and
spring - and hires aspiring singers from across the country.
"We look for young singers who are out of school but haven't been
able to make that connection to where they're making their living
entirely by singing," Schlaefer said. "We offer sort of a bridge -
and there is no tougher audience than kids."
FBN Opera will perform its take on two classic fairy tales Saturday,
but each has a unique twist and teaches a lesson to the pint-sized
audience.
"In 'The Three Little Pigs,' the pigs solve their problem of how to
build a house by going to the library," she said.
The lesson? "If you fear a thing that's scary, take your question to
the library."
In "Goldilocks," the lesson focuses on safety and always letting a
grownup know where you're going.
"If you're going to go anywhere, tell your parents or your teachers
and be smart," Schlaefer said.
Since FBN Opera received its tax-exempt status in 1997, the company
has performed for more than 107,000 children in the Carolinas and
Georgia.
The young patrons have plenty to say about the experience afterward.
"Every audience is different, but a lot of them say, 'We didn't know
you could sing so loud,'‘" Schlaefer said, laughing.
"But it's not so much what they say, it's the faces and the fact
that they are totally engaged and their imaginations kick in.
"Because it's such a new experience they're enraptured by it."
Schlaefer is very proud that her company is "a home-grown, South
Carolina-based organization." And she is committed to the program
that operates on a shoestring budget, a budget supplemented by her
freelance directing work.
"Freelance directing is part of the way I underwrite the costs," she
said. "School funding has been cut enormously, and I'm trying to
find ways to keep arts in the schools."
Her goal is to continue to bring something to the schools that is
not readily available - live musical performances.
"The cultural heritage of the whole world is so rich," she said,
"and I'm trying to offer a teeny, tiny piece of it."
IF YOU GO
Opera for Kids
When: 11:30 a.m., "Three Little Pigs"; 2:30 p.m., "Goldilocks"; both
Saturday
Where: The Children's Carnival, Martin Luther King Park, 2300 Greene
St.
Cost: Free
Contact: (803) 545-3117
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