Opera On Wheels

In 1987, Toledo Opera began touring in area elementary schools with some form of opera educational program under the umbrella name of Opera in a Suitcase or Opera on Wheels. The Opera still considers the area’s children and youth to be a key constituency and today offers a range of programs that serves pre-K through high school students and represents one-third of the company’s total operating budget. Depending on the age of the audience, experiencing or participating in an opera can enhance students’ learning. Each year, Opera on Wheels (OOW) tours to seventy schools in ten Ohio and three Michigan counties, reaching over 20,000 elementary students.

Throughout Sylvania Arts’ seven year investment in Opera on Wheels, Sylvania area K-8th grade students have experienced high quality, professionally produced opera in their schools, a first step in their developing a life-long love of music, drama, and opera. In elementary schools, a focus on academics and individual subject areas makes it difficult to allot much time or resources to the arts and the learning that occurs when students experience them. That is where an outreach program such as Opera on Wheels comes in. Elementary schools need only provide their gym or theater and Toledo Opera brings the rest. The whole school participates and teachers can use the guide prepared for each opera to prepare their students for the performance and extend students’ thinking and reactions after it.