By NARELLE COULTER
YARRAMAN OAKS Primary School students hit a high note when they performed alongside some of Australia’s best opera singers in Mozart’s The Magic Flute last week.
Sixteen students from the Noble Park school were given the chance of a lifetime to be part of the Opera Australia touring production at The Drum Theatre.
The students were mentored by children’s choir specialist Alex Pringle.
“They were absolutely brilliant,” Mr Pringle said.
“This is the first time Opera Australia has involved local children in this way, and they have been absolutely wonderful,” he said.
The touring performance updates Mozart’s famous opera to include references to movies like The Mummy and Indiana Jones.
The students played spirit guides, leading the protagonists through the story.
Mr Pringle spent time in Dandenong working with the young singers ahead of the arrival of the cast.
“Their level of singing has been improving every day. They have been watching these wonderful singers, who really are some of the best singers in the country. The kids get to look and listen to them, they have been soaking up everything in rehearsal,” he said.
Mr Pringle said Opera Australia was keen to foster a new generation of singers and concert goers. He will work with 22 schools in all as the opera tours Australia over the next two years.
“The students are exposed to the theatre, the lights, they see sets being built and interact with the orchestra and the singers.
“Yarraman Oaks was really our test subject. The kids were brilliant. They become part of the production and I saw a look in their eyes which said, ’I really want to nail this’.”
