Kindergarten students create and perform opera

Intermountain Catholic

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The cast members of Chester's Way gather as the audience aludes them with cheers and applause on debut day April 30. Chester's Way is an opera production written and performed by the kindergarten students of St. Vincent de Paul School in collaboration with Mary Williams, kindergarten teacher, and the artistic staff. IC photos by Priscilla Cabral

SALT LAKE CITY — Once upon a time, there were two best friends, Chester and Wilson, who would do everything together all year long, from summer to fall to winter to spring. They were two peas in a pod and enjoyed their daily routine. That is until Lilly moved into the neighborhood!

Lilly was an exuberant and loud girl who loved to dress in disguise. Chester and Wilson rejected Lilly despite her willingness to be friends. But one day, Chester and Wilson were harassed by some bullies and Lilly came to their rescue, so the two buddies decided to accept Lilly’s friendship. The trio discovered each one of them had a mind of his or her own but also have much in common with each other. They would do everything together all year long… Until Victor moved into the neighborhood!

This is the synthesized version of the St. Vincent de Paul Kindergarten class opera titled Chester’s Way – based on the story by Kevin Henkes–, which by no means could reflect the students’ hard work and talent during their performance in the school’s gym April 30.

They wrote their own libretto (script), for which they had to have a clear understanding of the story, helped Jolene Clarke, Utah Symphony & Opera composer and vocal coach, develop the music, collaborated with Choreographer Michelle Armstrong, painted the set, and helped make the costumes and props.

This is the seventh year the school has partnered with the Utah Symphony & Opera to provide opera lessons to the kindergarten students, said Mark Longe, principal. Utah Symphony & Opera also provides the school with training and support from professional artists.

"(The project) is a combination of all different curriculum areas such as art, reading, dance, and music," said Mary Williams, kindergarten teacher and producer/director of the opera.

In the process of creating an opera, the students may develop their artistic talents among other skills.

"They work on their language skills, and it often helps them with their life skills. They learn there are different ways of doing things and learn to be collaborative," said Paula Fowler, Utah Symphony & Opera director of education and community outreach.

So kids learned, just like their opera’s main characters, that although each one of them is different, they can make adjustments to include everyone.

"Some children don’t have the chance to shine until they participate in something like this," said Williams.

As he introduced the opera to the audience, Longe thanked the Utah Opera for helping the school underwrite the program and commemorated Williams, the artistic staff, and parent volunteers for the time and effort they put to make the program and the production of the opera a success.

"It’s not an easy task to work with 30 children," he said.

Williams agreed, but said it helped to break the students into groups. "While some were writing, others were working on their singing skills," she said. "And we had lots of volunteers."

The audience was very pleased with the kindergarten students’ performance.

"It was really cute. I am always impressed as a parent by the nice things they do here," said Erin Poche, who is looking forward to having her pre-k students perform next year.

At the end of the performance, parents, pre-k students, and students from Oakridge Elementary School clapped and shouted "Bravo" to show their appreciation for the production.