More ideas

I've been thinking more about what I would like to do for my opera presentation. I mentioned earlier that I would really like to emphasize the educational aspect of the opera, with all of its possibilities. One of Alice Parker's activities is that she travels around to different churches and takes their hymnals and teaches them new hymns that they probably have never heard before. She does this with a call and response format. She emphasizes the aural communication of music over teaching how to read notes. So I was thinking maybe I could do a similar thing where I teach a class one of the choral sections in a similar manner and then do an interactive reading with some other students. It would be a great way to get everyone involved! The only problem is that I only have fifteen minutes so I might not have enough time. There is a section near the beginning that includes a Gregorian chant; perhaps I could teach this quickly and talk about other aspects of the opera as well. There's just such a variety of styles and ideas in the opera that it's difficult to just pick one aspect for fear of misrepresenting the entire opera. Perhaps I could do both the Gregorian chant teaching and sing one of the arias. This would give a better idea of the variety. It would show how Parker incorporates quotations of music as well as compose her own melodies and such.
I've also been thinking of one other idea. The opera incorporates a harmonium in the score. I didn't realize what a harmonium was until I looked it up online. My parents actually have one in their living room! We just always referred to it as a pipe organ. It might be interesting to get a recording of my mom playing it so I could have the class listen to it and give a better idea of how the scores sounds “American.” I think that might be worth while.