Chicago Opera Theater Returns for Special Morning Ex

Earlier this year, the Chicago Opera Theater served as the 6th Annual Joan W. Harris Visiting Music Scholars in Residence, dazzling the audience with a performance, lecture and more information on bringing their newest opera, The Life and Death(s) of Alan Turing, to the stage. More recently, they came to Parker to meet the Lower School and help explain opera in a way that resonates with these young minds.

“What is opera?” the COT Education Manager Veronica Chamberlain asked the audience. Many students spoke up and explained what opera was to them. After fielding a range of responses, Chamberlain explained, “Opera is storytelling through music” and asked the audience to repeat that phrase. Chamberlain and company described basic aspects of opera and terms like “composer” or “libretto,” but always circled back to the phrase, “storytelling through music.” The visitors also performed three songs!

Parker thanks soprano Corinne Costell, tenor Karlos Piñero-Mercado, bass Patrick Scully and Cody Bradley accompanying them on piano. At the end of the Morning Ex, they were kind enough to answer a range of questions from the audience.

Parker is extremely grateful to the COT for returning to campus to engage with Lower School students and help develop a love for music in these developing young minds.

Click here for photos.