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Peninsula Teen Opera, which recently received a $100,000 grant from the Flora Family Foundation in Menlo Park, will perform an adaptation of Mozart’s “The Magic Flute” this weekend at Woodside High School’s performing arts center.
Students will perform “The Magic Flute” in an adapted version of “The Tales of Papageno,” along with scenes from well-known operas and operettas, on Saturday, Jan. 20, at 7:30 p.m., and Sunday, Jan. 21, at 3 p.m.
The cost is $15 for general admission, and $10 for seniors and students. For tickets, contact Elsa Schafer Raval at 593-6930 or elsaschafer@comcast.net.
Peninsula Teen Opera was founded in 1998 by professional opera singer Allen Cathcart.
The $100,000 grant will be used to give vocal scholarships beginning this summer. Scholarship students study classical voice privately with a teacher from the National Association of Teachers of Singing.
More than 150 young people, ranging in age from 11 to 19, have studied with PTO, Mr. Cathcart said. Students are accepted into PTO through auditions and interviews.
“PTO’s program was the first of its kind in the nation, and as far as I know, is still the only such program,” he said.
The students enter a 12-week training program and rehearse every Saturday afternoon for several hours.
Each 12-week program culminates with two staged and costumed performances of condensed versions of entire operas, as well as opera vignettes.
Many students would never think of applying for the program because their families can’t afford private vocal lessons that are needed for participation, Mr. Cathcart said. The new scholarships will cover both the PTO tuition of $970 and private voice lessons.
“We want students for whom the scholarships open new vistas,” he said.
