Transmission of traditional art forms in the modern world has been a major issue in the field of arts education. Different issues have been raised on how to preserve the traditional art forms for further development. Cantonese opera is a representative Chinese opera popular in south China including Hong Kong. However, the genre has been…

Schooling has been the main approach for transmitting knowledge and skills in both Eastern and Western cultures. The conservatory, for instance, has been the main cradle of great musicians. However, traditional folk arts in the East relied on apprenticeship using an oral approach for transmission. Applying Lave and Wenger's theory of legitimate…

Objectives: The humanities, including narrative arts, are a valuable tool to foster reflection for professionally competent clinical practice. Integrating such study into traditional medical school curricula can prove challenging. A preclinical elective on opera and medicine was developed and piloted at the Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown…

Artistic creation has always reflected the spirit of the moment, and opera has not been an exception. There are several examples of operas that appeared at key moments of the development of science, portraying them. Additionally, there are also operas that emerged after scientific events or the lifetime of the scientists by whom they were…

The Cantonese opera was traditionally transmitted by an apprenticeship approach, which has faded out in the mid-twentieth century. Instead, the conservatory approach adapted from the West has replaced the major mode of nurturing professional artists in China and Hong Kong. This study aims to investigate and examine the current practice of the…

This paper reports on an intermedial pedagogy informed by Jacques Rancière's "Ignorant Schoolmaster" (1991). Two case studies interrogate the creative application of notions found in intermedial practice, hypersurface and palimpsest, discussing student agency as rigorous, innovative and research-led. The emerging status of pedagogy in…

In this essay I explore problems of pedagogy related to Hans Krása's "Brundibár" by drawing heavily upon the thinking of two divergent theoretical perspectives regarding Holocaust testimony as advanced by Giorgio Agamben (2002) and Shoshana Felman (1992). I theorize that lodged within a space of difficult knowledge coalesced through…

The paper presents a microethnographic examination of an operatic masterclass, based on a transcribed video recording of just one such class. It is a companion piece to a more generalised ethnographic account of such masterclasses as pedagogic events. The detailed analysis demonstrates the close relationship between spoken and unspoken actions in…

This article invites teachers to consider how to strengthen links between English, music, arts, and acting, maximizing the potential for children to become successful language learners at a young age. It will show how children's opera can act as a catalyst for learning and using the language. The findings demonstrate that teaching English with a…

Opera is music, art, theater, and storytelling. It resembles many musical, visual, theatrical, and literary forms children have already experienced whether they realize it or not. It is an art form that can reach virtually every child on some level because of its emotional power. It can speak to all types of learners because there are many…

The Opera eLearning project developed a solution for opera singing distance lessons at the graduate level, using high bandwidth to deliver a quality audio and video experience that has been evaluated by singing teachers, chorus and orchestra directors, singers and other professional musicians. Prior to finding a technological model that suits the…

Content-based instruction (CBI) has been part of the foreign language curriculum for many years at US colleges, leading to courses that combine language instruction with specific content domains, such as film, literature, politics, sports and many others. This article presents a rather unusual choice of content domain for a second-year language…

When designing curriculum, the unique characteristics of young, gifted students must be carefully considered. Many have a highly defined sense of justice or fairness, a precocious ability to manipulate language or number systems, a need to see the connections between learning experiences, a heightened curiosity, and an ability to conceive a…

A rationale and specific suggestions for the limited and well-chosen use of opera to illuminate historical and cultural phenomena. A bibliography includes sources for background information on plots, music and composers. (JB)

Presents over 30 activities designed to introduce elementary school children to opera. Also provides a synopsis of and student activities for three specific operas ("Hansel and Gretel,""The Mikado,""Aida") and a short article about opera star Luciano Pavarotti. (SJL)