Helping Hamilton students hit a high note

If you don’t normally think “opera” when you think “elementary school” – well, think again.

This May 9 to 11, students from Hamilton’s Buchanan Park School will perform Hansel and Gretel. That’s the opera by 19th-century composer Engelbert Humperdinck, by the way, not the 2013 movie starring Jeremy Renner.

Every student in the school is involved, from singing lead roles to dancing in the chorus to painting the set. Helping out behind the scenes is an active community of more than two dozen McMaster students and alumni – the children’s parents, grandparents, teachers, friends and relatives. Profits from ticket sales are donated to the McMaster Children’s Cancer and Leukemia Research Fund.

Now in its 19th year, the Buchanan Park Opera Club is the brainchild of McMaster alumna Dawn Martens, the school’s music teacher.

“Nineteen years ago, I took my students to see a production of La Bohème. Afterwards, they asked me: ‘Can we do that?’” says Martens, who earned her BA from the University in 1986 and was inducted into McMaster’s alumni gallery in 2002 for her work in opera education.

According to Martens, there are a handful of similar programs across North America, but this one is unique in that it is part of an elementary school curriculum.

“The program integrates numeracy, literacy, science, history, drama, art – and music,” says the school’s principal, Scott Lowrey, a graduate of the class of ’85. “It’s about building community. It’s equitable, inclusive and multigenerational. All children are included – our village is strong.”

“The fascinating thing for me as an elementary school teacher,” Martens says, “is I get to use everything I learned at Mac. For example, this teaches a lot about social history. Students use math skills to build a set. If you’re a good chemist, you might operate the fog machine. If we discover you’re a brilliant orator, then we’ll find a part you can narrate. And all the primary-level children take part in dance ensembles. There’s something for everyone.”

McMaster professor Laurel Trainor is known for her groundbreaking neuroscience research on musical development in children and infants. “This program shows there’s no limit to what children can appreciate and learn,” says Trainor, founding director of the McMaster Institute for Music and the Mind. The interdisciplinary research institute is in the final construction stage of the Large Interactive Virtual Environment (LIVE) Lab, a world-leading facility for the scientific study of music, sound and movement, and their importance in human development, health and society. “This kind of experience at Buchanan Park gives children a solid foundation they will carry with them their entire lives,” Trainor says.

The experience of acting onstage is “awesome,” according to Ben Atchison, who is singing the role of the Sandman. The grade six student has already performed two other lead roles in the past two years: Radames in Aïda and Don Curzio in The Marriage of Figaro. Olivia Gibbs, also in grade six, is one of three girls tackling the all-important role of the Gingerbread Witch. “I always loved to sing. It’s really fun,” says Olivia, whose favourite song in the opera is, fittingly, “I put a spell on you.”

The children aren’t the only ones who benefit. “It keeps you youthful,” says Graeme Newbigging, a McMaster alumnus (BA Hon 1962) and retired high school teacher, who has volunteered as the club’s drama coach for at least 15 years. His wife, Barbara, has made the costumes for longer than that.

All goods and services are donated by the community. Parents sign up for everything from making props to selling ads to handling the publicity. The school estimates at least 21 parents are McMaster alumni.

“The beauty of this is it involves every single child in the school,” says Mac grad Michael D’Agostino (BSc Hon 1986, PhD 1990), a parent who is volunteering in ticket sales this year. In the past, he has made props, built sets and worked on the lighting. All three of his children have been involved in the Opera Club over the years, and he credits this experience for developing their musical talents. “I’m sure they didn’t get it from me,” he quips.

This year, D’Agostino’s 11-year-old daughter Katherine is also one of the girls playing a witch. He notes that when she was nine, Katherine had a walk-on role in a production by Opera Hamilton, which maintains a close relationship with the Buchanan Park program. “The school does a fabulous job of enrichment,” says D’Agostino, a high school teacher in Brantford.

“I was blown away. It was quite amazing to watch,” says Mac alumna Rada Thomas (BSc 1999), who saw a production for the first time last year. “The children are really encouraged to do their best.” Her seven-year-old son Kristian will be a chocolate chip cookie in Hansel and Gretel.

McMaster students are also frequent visitors to Buchanan Park, and not only to volunteer with the opera. This school year, 12 student-athletes from the McMaster Athletes Care program coached soccer, and eight nursing students worked at the school as part of the University’s third-year community nursing course.

Ticket proceeds from the operas are donated to support children’s leukemia research conducted by faculty members in McMaster’s Faculty of Health Sciences. To date, more than $51,000 has been donated. “Everyone in our community has been touched by cancer in some way,” says Dawn Martens. “So, this is a way to have children giving back to children.”

Hansel and Gretel will be performed from May 9 to 11 at Buchanan Park School, 30 Laurier Avenue in Hamilton. For further information, call the school at 905-387-5212 or visit www.bpoc.ca.