Dido and Aeneas, With Teen Spirit
It’s never been done before: No high school in the Bay Area has ever staged a full opera. Scenes, yes but not an entire opera. And now, after just three months, a cast of 35 kids has done it.
“I won’t say it has restored my faith in kids because I never lost faith,” says Todd Wedge, who directed the piece and is a teacher at the Ruth Asawa San Francisco School of the Arts, formerly known as SOTA. “But for those who say, oh kids are lazy these days, they never have to work as hard as we did, this is a perfect example of how wrong that perception is.”
The performance of Henry Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas features 14 to 18-year-olds. There are six lead parts, 22 in the chorus, and nine in the orchestra.
“They were faster in putting this together than any professional company I’ve ever seen,” says Wedge who once sang the role of Aeneas for San Francisco Opera.
The project was born last spring, auditions were held at the end of May. And on Aug. 7, the cast members, after completely memorizing their lines, began rehearsals. A week later, after working from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. the structure of the production was secure.
“There was a giant moment at the end of that week,” remembers Wedge. “We got the whole thing up and running and we got to the last scene, that last chorus with the funeral and the candles, and a lot of the kids were crying. It was very emotional not only because of that moment in the play but the realization that they had done something extraordinary and in a very short time. It’s going to be a great performance.”
Olivia Cosio, 16, plays Dido, the fiery, tragic queen. Cosio is starting her junior year and sang the opera’s famous final aria at auditions. (She sang another 17th-century aria to get into SOTA.)
“I think everybody really tried to live up to the commitment to do this; everybody was so excited because this had never been done before.”
Asked what she draws on to portray the complicated emotions of Dido at the end of the opera, Cosio replied, “I channel moments of my life when I felt I had nowhere to turn to. I think about what it’s like to be left the way she was, and in a way it’s easier because you’re at the end of the play, you’ve been holding back all this emotion and so it’s easy to connect to the feeling of being helpless and hysterical. At that point I’m no longer Olivia, I’m Dido. I’m completely taken over by the character.”
Cosio goes on to say that beyond the angst that permeates the opera, the pace at which everything happens has resonance for a teenager. “The plot moves so quickly, and here’s Dido who wants to kill herself but she’s only known Aeneas for a few days. I feel like a lot of the emotions in the play are what we’re feeling every day.
Don't miss it: Aug. 31 — Sept. 2 at the Ruth Asawa School for the Performing Arts.
Two Great Choral Groups:Totally Unscary Auditions
As fall approaches, audition season arrives. Here is a brief word about auditions at two of the finest chorus programs in the Bay Area: one in the East Bay; the other on the Peninsula.
Ragazzi Boys Chorus
The Ragazzi school uses the Kodaly method created by Zoltán Kodály, the Hungarian composer and is focused on children from 7 to 10 years old. There is a pyramid structure based on ability. At the top, a group of 55; an intermediate group of 45; and four equal entry-level groups each with 25 singers. There’s also a young men’s ensemble of 26 high school students, ages 14 to 18. Most members of the chorus come from the Peninsula. In all, students come from 96 schools in 26 school districts.
Practice is once a week, usually on Monday or Wednesday, from 5 p.m. to 7:20 p.m. Tuition is $1,450 a year; however, flexible tuition is available and those who go on tour also receive financial help if they need it. Auditions are offered to children up to 10 years old, although older children may be accepted based on prior training.
During the audition, says Artistic Director Joyce Keil, “we just ask the child to sing a few musical exercises. What we’re really looking for is simply an interest in music and if they’re able to maintain some kind of focus.” One other thing to consider during auditions is whether a child suffers signs of hoarseness. “In the last five years, we’ve see so much of that. There’s just so much shouting and it takes its toll on the vocal chords. If you’re not a singer, it’s not a problem and the child will grow out of it. But if you’re a soprano and you want to sing, you only have a few years to do it. If we hear it, we recommend an ENT specialist.”
The chorus is offering a new course in Music and Movement this fall. It’s for boys, ages 5 to 7. It’s a one-hour class that meets once a week. There are 12 spots, but if there is interest a second class will start in January. The teacher uses Kodaly exercises along with singing games to provide both fun and education. Ask for more information.
Ragazzi does an international tour every few years. Recent tours have gone to Great Britain (2001), Spain and Portugal (2004), and Australia and New Zealand (2007). In 2008, Ragazzi attended the prestigious Kathaumixw Festival in British Columbia. Auditions are held three times a year.
Ragazzi auditions: Aug. 27 and 29, 5:30 p.m. on both days, St. Peter’s Church, 178 Clinton St., Redwood City. By appointment (650 342-8785, [email protected]). Tuition is $1,450 per year for the music program.
Piedmont East Bay Children’s Choir
The Piedmont East Bay Children’s Choir also uses the Kodaly method, and many faculty members are graduates of the Kodaly program at Holy Names University in Oakland. The Choir frequently collaborates with other local performing organizations including the San Francisco Opera and San Francisco Symphony, among others.
The program enrolls 350 students drawn from around the Bay Area and enlists with boys and girls, ages four and up. Children advance through a series of training choirs to professional-level touring groups. As founding Artistic Director Robert Geary, puts it, “It’s not cradle to grave but certainly cradle to college.”
The environment at Piedmont is designed to help students learn “teamwork, music reading and music theory, and make new friends.” Even children with no experience should apply. By Geary’s account the audition is “fun and very kid-friendly.” Once in the program, rehearsals are held weekly after school. Auditions are held twice a year.
“Most kids can carry a tune,” says Geary. “Everything else is built around music education and vocal training.”
Geary adds that, out of a graduating class of 12 at choir school this year, he had worked closely with seven, all girls. “I have to say I was impressed that of the seven two are going to Harvard and one to Yale. And the others are going to top schools as well.” For Geary there’s no question that music education plays a strong role in academic success. “It’s not just that they have significant brain power, but that these women are all emotionally open and well enough adjusted that they can function well in any group. They have discipline but also humor, they’re motivated but socially at ease.”
Piedmont East Bay Children’s Choir auditions Sept. 8, from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m, Veteran’s Memorial Hall, 401 Highland Ave, Piedmont. By appointment (510) 547-4441, [email protected]) Tuition varies by group; preschool and kinder groups pay $310/semester; elementary age groups, $680/semester. Tuition goes up for older groups when they start going on tour and to camp.
Sing to Another Summer of Love
Don’t miss this. Sweet, friendly, just family and friends. And great music and a picnic meal, to boot. All the nostalgia you can handle on a late afternoon and evening — Summer of Love — performed by the Choral Singers of Marin, “an all-female, non-auditioned” chorus, which was founded by Artistic Director Jan Pedersen Schiff in 1987.
Music is from Blood, Sweat & Tears; Carole King; Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young; Joni Mitchell, and more. In other words, back to that other future when “our house (was) a very, very fine house, with two cats in the yard, life used to be so hard ...”
August 19, 4 p.m., Hamilton/Novato 600 Palm Dr. (Unity in Marin), $18 (includes picnic meal); $10 students and children.
See event info here.