This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2010, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Syracuse • Allie Hinrich's white feather boa and tutu transformed her into a pelican.
Taylor Hill spread black garbage bags over his arms and became a western tanager.
Maddie Wagner wore brown spots and false bulgy eyes to be a northern leopard frog.
For a day, Teresa Anderson's third-graders at Buffalo Point Elementary were not only birds, insects and amphibians, they were opera singers.
The students wrote and performed their own opera, "The Adventure to Antelope Island." They had guidance from some specialists with the Utah Festival Opera, but the children created the story, wrote the lyrics and melody and designed the set and costumes.
"It's amazing what they can do when it's not someone else's agenda," Anderson said. "They used their ideas and worked together. Children come up with wonderful stories — much better than I could."
As part of their science study, Anderson's class has been making a field guide to the animals and plants near Buffalo Point, which is just east of the Great Salt Lake.
For the opera, the students decided they would become the bugs and birds in their guide. They leave the school to explore Antelope Island.
"All of us came up with it," said Taden Blackburn, an 8-year-old who played the American kestrel.
The project combined art, writing and science. Students were given three rules: No one gets hurt, everyone participates and they produce their own work.
"It is really fun because they write about what they know and what they are learning about in school," said Pamela Gee, a drama specialist from Utah Festival Opera who worked with Anderson's class.
Kids are creating operas this year in 166 classrooms throughout Utah, Gee said. The program is funded by grants and is offered to schools at no cost.
In past years, Anderson's classes have written operas about a woman U.S. president visiting Hill Air Force Base, a friendship between a mountain lion and a porcupine, and the basketball rivalry between the University of Utah and Brigham Young University.
As "The Adventure to Antelope Island" opens, a blue spruce tree, birds, insects and other animals are at the elementary school. They are being tormented by Buffalo Point students.
"Don't touch me," the creatures sang during a performance for the whole school. "Don't ruin my feathers and my skin."
The tree and animals soon decide to go exploring and find a new place to live where they won't be bothered. (First, the blue spruce has to learn to walk.) They discover that Antelope Island offers the landscape and food supply they need.
But the animals discover they are lonely without any children to play with. They try building toy children out of mud and sticks but end up with an "icky, gooey" mess.
The birds take fliers to the school and invite the students to come to Antelope Island to play.
"Visit us at Antelope Island because it's like paradise," they sing.
In the end, the kids and animals are reunited on the island for a game of tag.
"I think some of us were a little nervous, but we did really good," said third-grader Ashlynn Suarez after the performance. Suarez, a tree swallow, wore a black tutu and turquoise feathers.
In an opera, she noted, "You can't yell, but you can sing really loud."
Many of the performers said they have not yet visited Antelope Island, but they would like to.
Anderson hopes to make a field trip before the end of the school year.
About Opera by Children
What • An educational program of Logan-based Utah Festival Opera. Kids write and perform their own opera with guidance from their teachers and opera specialists. Schools are not charged for the opera's services.
Where • More than 160 classrooms throughout Utah.
Information • http://tinyurl.com/23h9z2a.