Schmidt Opera Outreach Program (SOOP)
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Under the direction of Dr. Everett McCorvey, in 2003 the University of Kentucky Opera Theatre and the Lexington Opera Society established an opera outreach and education program. Since 2007, under the new sponsorship of the William E. Schmidt Foundation, the arts have now become accessible to the children of Kentucky through the Schmidt Opera Outreach Program (SOOP). Using fairy tales, children's stories, and American history, along with the music of Mozart, Rossini, Offenbach, Rodriquez and Malcolm Fox, SOOP has introduced more than 100,000 Kentucky students in more than 270 schools and 67 counties to the fundamental components, basic terminology and the glorious melodies of opera and traditional American music.
At the official Lincoln Bicentennial Celebration in Hodgenville, KY, SOOP premiered A Shirt Tail Boy Named Abe, an original children's opera commissioned by the Lexington Opera Society and written by James W. Rodgers and Jay Flippin. SOOP is currently performing this opera in the Commonwealth through November, 2009.
In the spring and fall of 2010, SOOP will present Get Stuffed--a lively and humorous children's opera about nutrition, featuring singing fruits and vegetables!
For more information about SOOP or to book or sponsor a performance, contact Marc Schlackman at 859.257.9331.
SOOP Photos
Press
Lesson in nutrition with a taste of opera
Bluegrass Moms, February 8, 2010
Get Stuffed is the Schmidt Opera Outreach Program's new show featuring information about nutrition and its effect on student health and learning...cont.
