This is Why Arts Education Matters

 Operatunities 

 Since 2010, Meridian Hill Pictures has collaborated with the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts on a youth documentary production and media literacy program at the Arts & Technology Academy (ATA) in Northeast Washington DC. Through the program, fourth and fifth graders from ATA work with Meridian Hill Pictures' filmmakers to produce short documentaries with an arts-focus.

For the 2011-2012 school year, students from ATA are working with Meridian Hill Pictures filmmakers Brandon Kramer, Ellie Walton and our intern team to produce a new short documentary exploring the art form of opera: what opera is, what it takes to become an opera singer, and how opera touches and impacts artists and audiences.. The film, titled Operatunities, will premiere during the Spring 2012. The film shows ATA students using opera as a lens for exploring their own dreams and the process of achieving a goal. The film's story is told from a variety of perspectives, including the two main youth interviewers, Demarje and Aaliyah; Duke Ellington vocal students; and two professional opera singers, Ms. D and Ms. Janice Chandler-Eteme. http://youtu.be/z44xRYRhqys