Full Circle Opera Project was founded by Stephanie Vlahos.
My first experience singing MainStage international level opera was as the Page in Salome, directed by Sir Peter Hall with Maria Ewing in the title role. The Page typically exits after the first 15-minutes of the opera, but Peter wanted me to remain centre stage, watching the appalling tragedy unfold as a kind of Greek chorus. I sat above the orchestra and within a mise en scene inspired by Klimt, experiencing incredible performances, but moreover, surrounded by the genius of Strauss. That’s when I truly fell in love with opera.
I came to a different creative conclusion about the kind of presentation that would get kids passionately involved with opera, based on my experience. You see, I believed that the best way to appreciate opera was to experience it first hand – to trust the value of the music as a visceral point of engagement expressing a teenager’s emotional interface with the world, their passion to speak out, use their voices. The teenage years are an amazing time. And for as much as some people fail to get the drama of opera, the students in the Full Circle Opera Project got it, despite colleagues in the business advising against teens in opera. That opinion quickly changed when the project gained notoriety, popularity and a large grant.
The truth is, there is every reason for people to reject opera. It is expensive to attend and appears to be elitist. How do you break that perception? The stories. They’re not elitist. They’re about the human condition, human frailties, they expose prejudice and sexism, immense cruelty and misconceptions, and nearly always, they’re about a single action in a brief moment that changes everything.
When I established an opera project for young artists at the celebrated County Arts High School in LA (LACHSA). I was not only rewarded as a Mentor but also as a Creator.
The project was one of the first of its kind and grew from what the students fondly called “the chess club” to a wildly popular kids’ project.
In many ways, the inspiration of my work with the students in the project led me to become a professional stage director. The commitment of all those eager, passionate teens, freely reconstructing and deconstructing grand opera toward relatability and relevance, was not only a testament to the genius of youth, but to opera, for indeed, it could accommodate guileless interpretation. Meanwhile, some of the kids are now singing at the Metropolitan Opera, San Francisco Opera, and Covent Garden, such as Angel Blue, Peabody Southwell, and Julie Adams or they inhabit the pop arena like the women in the band HAIM.
How did the project impact these careers? Arguably, careers aren’t earned by the mentors but by the artists themselves. But instilling a visceral sense of joy in the doing of opera might have helped along the bumpy road to success.
The project has now moved forward in the class curriculum as the Opera Company for LACHSA. The title has changed, but the spirit remains. It looks towards relatable insight and messages that reach across multiple boundaries to engage with communities.
Vlahos speaks, the room suddenly gets quiet. “Do not abandon the character for the song, or the song for the character,” she demands. “I don’t want bobble-heads up there!”
Where ‘Carmen’ is cool – LA Times
Operas, Vlahos says, are stories that have great value to teenagers. They are at the most fervent and impassioned time in their lives. Opera is an art form that equals their passion.
Full Circle Opera alive in the community
“Teenagers, about 20 of them, hang together in the middle of a classroom, waiting. You can cut the lethargy with a knife. Suddenly their teacher stands up, claps her hands and shouts, “Again!” And the room comes suddenly alive with high school students singing the “Toreador March” from “Carmen.”
“The teacher is Stephanie Vlahos, founder of the Full Circle Opera Project at the Los Angeles County High School for the Arts, or LACHSA. Students are part of a program which is the only one of its kind in the country. A public high school opera repertory company made up of teens who perform at grade and middle schools to introduce children to opera. Children are encouraged by the teenagers to be costumed. And participate in the songs and production. Along with the outreach, the company stages two or three productions at LACHSA every year, like this version of the Georges Bizet opera.” —LA Times
Words to the wise
As the students voices again, they ring out strong and clear. Vlahos cuts them off and directs them to stay in the moment.
“I don’t want herds of people walking on and off stage without reason or purpose. Investigate the character you are playing. Be human beings.”
Grace Wall, a senior who plays Carmen, explains her outreach experience.
“We give short performances and we invite the kids to work with us. It’s great to see their excitement. As we pass on what we love about opera, our own appreciation of the art is cemented. I guess that’s one of the reasons it’s called Full Circle.”