Education & Outreach
Maryland Opera offers programs at reduced fees or free of charge for opera education performances to Maryland schools and community centers for grades pre-K through 12. Programming requests are accepted starting in early September. Program performances begin in mid-October and continue through the end of May. The grades listed for each program below are the suggested age range.
Please contact James Harp at 410-591-2853 or jharp@marylandopera.org to reserve program time for your organization.
Want to get involved? Visit our Audition page
Jump To Programs By Grade
Opera-To-Go Programs
Grades Pre-k—2
Sing a Rainbow (New Program)
Grades: Pre-K - 2
Length: 30 Minutes
Audience Max: 250
The beautiful and enchanting Rainbow Lady teaches us about colors and all the diverse people that make music throughout the world.
The ABCs of Opera
Grades: Pre-K - 2 (Recommended) Length: 30 Minutes
Audience Max: 250
The fundamentals of Opera are explored with this interactive presentation that gets students singing, dancing and learning all at once! Students explore how an opera tells a story first through familiar songs like the ABCs and Itsy Bitsy Spider, and then by expanding the imagination by learning the stories and hearing the arias from real operas.
The Opera Bears
Grades: Pre-K - 2
Length: 30 Minutes
Audience Max: 250
An interactive presentation featuring large puppets seen simultaneously with the performers. “Grizzelina” and “Grizzelino” teach that, for humans and bears alike, opera is a delightful way to tell a story.
Puppets & Papageno
Grades: Pre-K - 2
Length: 30 Minutes
Audience Max: 250
An interactive presentation featuring large puppets seen simultaneously with the performers. “Tuska” and “Donnertello” learn that, while singing solos in the opera is fun, the real joy comes from singing together.
Arias & Adventures
Grades: Pre-K - 2
Length: 30 Minutes
Audience Max: 250
In this delightful introduction to opera, two mysterious characters are imagined into existence from audience suggestions and show how a story can be told through singing.
Grades 3—6
Sing a Rainbow (New Program)
Grades: 3 — 6
Length: 45 Minutes
Audience Max: 250
The beautiful and enchanting Rainbow Lady sings about the many characters in famous operas that come from diverse backgrounds and cultures. She also teaches us all the diverse people that make music throughout the world.
Opera Games!
Grades: 3 — 6
Length: 45 Minutes
Audience Max: 250
What does a singer have to do to be in the opera? How many directors does an opera have? What are “recitatives” and “supernumeraries”? In this highly energetic and interactive show, two singers and a pianist/emcee tell all about what it takes to put an opera together—and more importantly, show just how fun opera is!
Let's Make an Opera
Grades: 3 — 6
Length: 45 Minutes
Audience Max: 250
We’ll provide the music, you provide the plot. Guided by the pianist/emcee, the students learn about opera while creating a brand new story, brought to life in real time by two singers using some of opera’s greatest arias and duets.
Much Ado About Opera
Grades: 3 — 6
Length: 45 Minutes
Audience Max: 250
Between a pianist, a singer, and a secret identity (or two!), students learn that opera is both fun and full of surprises.
Grades 7—12
Lift Every Voice & Sing
(New Program)
Grades: 7 - 12
Length: 45 Minutes
Audience Max: 250
This program provides an insightful and celebratory overview of the rich treasure of music by African-Americans, including spirituals, art songs, and operatic arias.
Marian Anderson
Grades: 7 - 12
Length: 45 Minutes
Audience Max: 250
A celebration and tribute to the first African-American singer to perform at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City. This program explores the turbulent history of the civil rights movement, while presenting the wide variety of styles in Marian Anderson’s repertoire, including spirituals, art songs, and opera excerpts.
Much Ado About Opera
Grades: 7 - 12
Length: 45 Minutes
Audience Max: 250
Between a pianist, a singer, and a secret identity (or two!), students learn that opera is both fun and full of surprises.
Let's Make an Opera
Grades: 7 - 12
Length: 45 Minutes
Audience Max: 250
We’ll provide the music, you provide the plot. Guided by the pianist/emcee, the students learn about opera while creating a brand new story, brought to life in real time by two singers using some of opera’s greatest arias and duets.
Additional Programs
Opera à la carte
Would your organization enjoy a program of live vocal music and entertainment? Is your history class studying a particular era or region? Are you introducing your English students to poetry? Would you enjoy a program of Opera or Broadway favorites and the chance to learn more about them?Our singers and musicians have expertise in a wide variety of musical periods and styles and would be happy to create a custom program to meet your needs.
Opera in the Curriculum
Opera in the Curriculum gives teachers an opportunity to enhance classroom learning by bringing students to full, live productions of grand opera after studying the content or context of the piece in class. Teachers of history, English, fine arts, music and foreign language have taken advantage of this opportunity to make opera vital and relevant in a school’s core curriculum.
Master Classes
Maryland Opera’s expert staff is available to conduct master classes with your choir or vocal students. We can also include a Q&A or an informal conversation about career opportunities in the opera industry.
"Perspectives" Lectures
Student Dress Rehearsals
To enhance your enjoyment of the opera, respected operaphiles provide insight into the opera’s musical significance, composition, and historical context. This lecture series is presented free of charge to anyone holding a ticket to the performance.
A limited number of dress rehearsal passes for Maryland Opera productions are available to classes and student groups.
I cannot say enough about the first-class performance given by the team today! The students were so engaged, and the musicians were so wonderful."
- Nancy Lindsay, MM M.Ed. Vocal Music Specialist Baltimore Highlands Elementary School