EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) — The goal of Youth Opera of El Paso is to create\u00a0life-long opera lovers right here in our community.<\/p>\n
“One of the things i encountered early in my teaching is that young people are very intimidated by just the word opera,” Kimberly Wolfenbarger-Nakamoto told ABC-7 during an interview. Kimberly is the Youth Opera of El Paso’s\u00a0Artistic Director and Co-Founder.<\/p>\n
“People don’t tend to participate in art forms where they don’t feel represented, where they don’t see themselves. And children’s opera is our opportunity to give young people in this community a chance to have hands on experience with opera,” said Kimberly. <\/p>\n
“Opera is for everybody, opera is for them, and we teach them what opera is and how to love it from a very young age…if we can teach four and five year olds how to love opera, we can teach everybody how to love opera,” Kimberly told ABC-7. <\/p>\n
The\u00a0world-premier of\u00a0“A Note of Explanation”\u00a0invites\u00a0families to experience a live performance together.<\/p>\n
Their newest production is scheduled for multiple showings\u00a0March 6th through 8th. The story follows the adventures of a time-traveling sprite that lives in a doll house.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“A Note of Explanation” is an original children\u2019s opera by Shoshana Shattenkirk and AJ Freeman, adapted from Vita Sackville-West\u2019s 1922 children\u2019s book commissioned by Queen Mary for her dollhouse library. <\/p>\n
The tiny book, the size of a postage stamp, sat hidden for nearly a century until its 2017 rediscovery . <\/p>\n
This, sparking the creation of this new stage work for young audiences.<\/p>\n
“That feeling of like, excitement mixed\u00a0with a little bit of nervousness, mixed with like the, oh my gosh, we’re actually doing this. It’s so fun,” said Sophia Madrid, a participant in this Youth Opera of El Paso’s production. <\/p>\n
“You get to perform with all these amazing people…\u00a0and you feel like you’re really part of something,” Kennedy Miller, another participant, told ABC-7.<\/p>\n
“They’re no longer afraid or intimidated by opera. they now love it, and they want it to be a part of their lives, which is the whole goal,” said Kimberly.<\/p>\n