Opera Orlando's Expanding Education Programs

Since Opera Orlando’s inception seven years ago, education has been at the core of its mission and as the Company continues to experience tremendous growth, so too do its education programs. As the Opera begins its 2023-24 All for Art season, the Company is proud to launch a new Apprentice Artists program in partnership with Stetson University School of Music, as well as add a touring production of Frida Kahlo and the Bravest Girl in the World targeted to elementary schools throughout Central Florida. These programs, in conjunction with Opera Orlando’s current educational initiatives, now create a continuum of curricula that cover the entire life cycle of a singer from age eight to eighty and beyond. 

“The growth, impact, and success of our educational initiatives can all be attributed to the hard work, vision, and dedication of our education director Sarah Purser and her team,” says Opera Orlando general director Gabriel Preisser. “It is great to start this season with a complete and tiered education plan, and I am really looking forward to our Company sharing the power and gift of music not only on the stage but throughout the community.” 

Mrs. Purser has been with Opera Orlando since 2016 as a singer and staff member. In 2021 she took on the role of full-time education director and oversees the following programs:

YOUTH COMPANY  |  ages 8-18

OPERA ON TOUR  |  ages 8-12

YOUNG PEOPLE’S CONCERTS with the ORLANDO PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA  |  ages 8-12

CITY OF ORLANDO SUMMER CAMPS  |  ages 8-12 

BUILD-AN-OPERA with GIRLS SCOUTS CITRUS COUNCIL  |  ages 8-18

IN-SCHOOL PROGRAM with ORANGE and OSCEOLA COUNTY SCHOOLS  |  ages 12 -18

SINGS! (SUMMER INSTITUTE for the NEXT GENERATION of SINGERS)  |  ages 15-20

APPRENTICE PROGRAM  |  ages 20-24

STUDIO ARTISTS PROGRAM  |  ages 24 and up

MASTERCLASS with the MAESTRO SERIES  |  all ages

PRE-SHOW TALKS and TALKBACKS  |  all ages

RETIREMENT CENTER CONCERTS and LECTURE SERIES  |  ages 65 and over

The SINGS! and Build an Opera programs were added to the Opera’s educational offerings in the past two seasons. Additionally, the Company will start an Apprentice Artists program this season, which will provide undergraduate-aged music students the opportunity to receive professional operatic training and stage experience while concurrently earning college credit toward their vocal degree. The inaugural program will include two singers from Stetson University School of Music this season, soprano Isabel Barbato and mezzo-soprano Nidia Guevara-Nolasco who will perform with the Company in Tosca at Steinmetz Hall in October. Opera Orlando will continue to expand this program to include more collegiate level students in following seasons from Stetson and other nearby universities. 

The Apprentice Artist program also provides an important link between the Company’s well-established Youth Company, a professional training company for singers ages 8 through 18, and the Company’s Studio Artist program, designed for emerging, post-graduate singers. The Studio Artists program has also grown significantly over the past seven years with more than 500 applicants each year from across the U.S. competing for four program positions. This season’s Studio Artists include soprano Laura Corina Sanders, mezzo-soprano Linda Collazo, tenor David Soto Zambrana, and baritone Jose Cuartas. 

“Music education is my passion, and I have always been inspired by Opera Orlando’s commitment to education from the Youth Company to our in-school program to our retirement center concerts,” shares education director Sarah Purser. “Furthermore, I am honored to continue the legacy left by Opera Orlando Youth Company founder Robin Jensen. A legacy of inspiring creativity in young singers, truly encouraging them to express themselves through music and on stage.”

With the changing of the guard and expansion of the Opera Orlando Youth Company and other education initiatives, three new staff positions have been added: Brittani Alphonso as Youth Company instructor, John Korczynski as Youth Company pianist, and Nathan Cicero as resident pianist and chorus master. They join Youth Company associate director Sarai Goley, who joined the education staff last season and will be stage directing the touring production of Joe Illick and Mark Campbell’s Frida Kahlo and the Bravest Girl in the World, based on the book by the same name by Laurence Anholt. The production will visit more than twelve schools throughout Orange and Osceola counties with three additional community performances in Mt. Dora and downtown Orlando that will be free and open to the public. The presentation will feature the Opera Orlando Studio Artists and serves as a lead-up to the Company’s MainStage presentation of Frida, which the Opera will present at Steinmetz Hall in January 2024 and will also feature members of the Youth Company.

FRIDA KAHLO AND THE BRAVEST GIRL IN THE WORLD  |  music by Joe Illick and libretto by Mark Campbell, sung in English and Spanish

Friday  |  November 10, 2023 at 2 p.m & 4 p.m.
Mount Dora Performing Arts Center

Saturday  |  November 18, 2023 at 11 a.m..
Broadway United Methodist Church

Opera Orlando is always developing more relevant and innovative ways to celebrate, expand, and share opera, the world’s greatest art form, and its expanding education programs are proof of that. The variety of options now on offer by the Company provide multiple access points for the community to engage with opera and explore their individual creativity. As Opera Orlando continues to connect in more and more meaningful ways with the Central Florida community, audience members of all ages can now experience, learn, and participate in opera that is reflective of them and their culture. 

See YOU at the Opera!

About Opera Orlando:     Celebrating, expanding, and sharing the world’s greatest art form,  the 2023-24 season marks Opera Orlando’s eighth season producing high-quality operatic entertainment and educational programs that engage Central Florida audiences.

Stay up to date with Opera Orlando’s season online at www.OperaOrlando.org, and follow and like the Opera’s Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and Twitter accounts to share in all the Company has planned for 2023-24.

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