Dear Music Educators and Administrators, For nearly twenty-five years, Nashville Opera has enhanced the education of children through live per - formance by bringing opera into your schools. Nashville Opera On Tour has reached over a quarter of a million students and adults across Middle Tennessee, and we continue this rich tradition in our 24th sea - son by presenting Bear Hug/Abrazo de oso —an opera I had the pleasure of creating myself. Teachers like you strive to provide a rich learning experience for their students, and Nashville Opera On Tour is an exciting opportunity for your students to see a live performance tailored especially for them, without leaving your school campus! To best prepare your students for their exciting operatic experience, we provide a study guide to assist you. Not only will you find basic knowledge about the art form and musical terminology useful to a well-rounded understanding of music, but you will also find interactive games, activities, and projects to enhance each student’s understanding and enjoyment. By connecting opera to your music and general classroom curriculum, we hope to provide ways to collaborate with classroom teachers and arts special - ists. All of the activities in the guide are tied directly to the Tennessee Curriculum Standards and are la - beled with the GLE number, if they exist, or the standard code. This guide is designed to benefit both the student and educator with regard to the development of an in - terdisciplinary approach to opera education. The activities provided in the teacher guide assist students to actively listen and observe live opera. Also included are exercises that encourage students to internal - ize what they saw, heard, and felt. Your students can even enter an essay and art contest! We encourage you to use this guide to augment your existing curriculum in the many disciplines that are included. Please feel free to copy or adapt any part of this guide to enhance learning in your classroom. The arts have always been a vital part of a child’s educational experience. Thank you for partnering with Nashville Opera and giving us the opportunity to share the magic of opera with your students! We look forward to our performance at your school and know your students will enjoy the show! Best, Anna Young Director of Education and Outreach [email protected] 615.832.5242 BEA R HUG AB1 RAZ O DE OSO Table of Contents Check List . .3 Audience Etiquette . .4 The Story of Bear Hug/Abraso de oso! . .5 Meet the Cast . .6 Embrace the Music of Bear Hug! . .8 What Is a Zarzuela? . .13 Meet the Creator and Composers of Bear Hug! . .14 STEAM: Connecting Music to the Classroom Science . .18 Math . .24 Visual Arts . .26 Theatre and Movement . .28 Social Studies and Real-Life Application of Opera . .30 A Short History of Opera . .32 After the Show Art and Essay Contests . .36 2 Performance-Day Check List m We will arrive at your school about 30 –45 minutes prior to show time. We will go directly to the front office to check in. Please inform your office staff that we will be there and let them know where we are to unload our set. m Have a tuned piano in the performance space. We will bring a keyboard if you requested one on your registration form. m Prepare two “dressing rooms” close to the performance space for the singers. These need to be spaces that will not have students entering or exiting. m Begin bringing students in 15 minutes prior to show time. You do not need to wait for an okay from us. Questions? Call 615.832.5242 x 3559 e-mail Anna at [email protected] or go to our website: www.nashvilleopera.org 3 Audience Etiquette The audience is the most important participant in any live production! One of the most exciting aspects of attending a live performance is the interactive relationship between the audience and the performers. It’s a good idea to prepare your students for their role in our production of Bear Hug/Abrazo de oso! by covering these two basic guidelines. Two basic guidelines: 1. Respect! Opera is not like TV; the singers on the stage can see and hear you! Be respectful of all the hard work that has gone into the performance. Don’t get up, talk to your neighbor, or otherwise call attention to yourself by being disruptive. You are welcome to applaud and cheer on the performers when appropriate, but once those moments are over, continue to be respectful so everyone can hear and understand what happens in the opera. 2. Respond! It’s okay to applaud and laugh. Performers love to hear applause! It helps build their confidence and shows that you really like the performance you are seeing. Things you shouldn’t do during a live performance • Get up from your seat or get up on your knees. This makes it hard for folks behind you to see! • Walk around • Talk or whisper to your neighbor • Eat food or drink • Play with your cell phones/no texting! Things that you should do during a live performance • Laugh if something is funny • Applaud at the end of a song, after a scene, or at the very end of the opera. • Shout “Bravo, Brava or Bravi!” when the performers take their bows. 4 The Story: Bear Hug/Abrazo de oso! Bear Hug/Abrazo de oso! is a bilingual (in two different languages) youth opera and the cast sings in both English and Spanish. It is set in a zoo. The Zookeeper enters the stage while feeding some of his favorite animals including Marla, the koala bear, and Polly the panda bear. He admits that while he loves his job as zookeeper, he’s nervous about the grizzly exhibit next door. Grizzly bears are known to eat meat and he feels less than confident. Polly the panda greets the audience and mentions her love of reading and learning. She hears singing next to her exhibit and meets Bernardo, a very special Spanish brown bear and newest exhibit to the zoo. In fact, the entire zoo is decorated to welcome the newest bear! Bernardo, who has just arrived to the zoo and doesn’t speak much English, is nervous and feels lost. He misses his family. Polly distracts him from his loneliness by playing games like charades, trying to understand her new friend. They come across a locked gate. Polly has always wondered what was on the other side of the zoo and her adventur - ous personality starts the bears on a search for the key and out of their exhibit. The two meet Marla, the zoo’s koala bear. Koalas are actually marsupials—that means Marla isn’t really a bear at all! Koala bears are generally sleepy and like to eat plants such as eucalyptus. She agrees to help search for the key. Marla wonders aloud what could be on the other side of the locked gate and begins to name off scary creatures that could be in wait! Could it be lions, or tigers, or bears? OR tarantula spi - ders??? Bernardo hears the word “tarántula” and begins to sing an exciting Spanish folk song about tarantulas! According to Bernardo’s song, a person must dance to save themselves from a spider bite. The three bears dance and sing of the “tarántula,” forgetting momentarily about their search for the key. Marla spots the key that had been dropped in the bushes and holds it up declaring, “llave!” The bears excitedly use the key to open the locked gate. Just then, they hear a scary, low sound and look up to see Griff the grizzly bear looking down on them! Griff chases the bears threatening to eat them! Bernardo has a brilliant idea and runs in to the insect exhibit next door. He grabs a real tarantula spider and rushes to Griff. Griff, who is afraid of spiders, begins to run from the three bears. He finally stops and admits to being afraid of not just spiders, but the dark, thunder, and lightning as well! Marla asks if being mean all of the time makes him lonely. Griff agrees that he pushes other bears and potential friends away be - cause he’s different than other grizzlies and doesn’t want anyone to know he’s actually very sensitive and not scary at all—he even likes writing poems! Polly assures Griff that everyone feels lonely and different sometimes. Bernardo understands how the grizzly feels especially since he’s new to the zoo and so far from home. They all decide that though they may look different, be from other countries, and even speak different languages, they are all very much the same where it counts. Our differences make the world a beautiful place and kindness brings us all to - gether. BEAR HUG! ¡ABRAZO DE OSO! 5 Meet the Cast The cast is made up of Nashville Opera’s Mary Ragland Emerging Artists. These performers come from all over the country and stay in Nashville for three to four months to take part in our training pro - gram. They are part of Bear Hug/Abrazo de oso! and our mainstage productions of Jacques Offenbach’s Tales of Hoffmann as well as Marc Blitzstein’s The Cradle Will Rock. We asked our singers some questions so that you can get to know them! Chelsea Friedlander, soprano Marla the Koala From Princeton, New Jersey Has sung with Chautauqua Opera, Dayton Opera, Ohio Light Opera, Opera Saratoga, Opera in the Ozarks What is your favorite holiday? Thanksgiving What is your favorite food? Chinese Dumplings What do you like to do for fun? Sing back-up for Kristen Chenowith! What’s a little-known fact about you? I don’t know how to ride a bike! Chelsea Melamed, mezzo-soprano Polly the Panda From Los Angeles, California Has sung with Opera Santa Barbara, Pittsburgh Festival Opera, San Francisco Conservatory of Music Anything exciting happen to you this year? Yes! I just got married to a friendly Canadian physics nerd! Do you have a favorite place to visit? Venice, Italy—it’s