‘I love the idea that somebody who's a bit of an underdog comes out of the session smiling, laughing or showing off in some way because they’ve been the star of the show’, says Mark Llewelyn Evans, founder and director of ABC of Opera.
He is speaking about the education initiative that he founded four years ago to help children at Key Stages 1– 3 discover the story of opera through fun, interactive workshops. So far, he has delivered nearly 300 workshops, mainly in Wales, involving more than 1200 children. Since 2016, the scheme has been mentored by the Guildhall School of Music and Drama as part of its Creative Entrepreneurs scheme.
An inclusive ethos
‘I’ve been asked what our mission is, and I think, is it to save opera or is it to educate children? For me, opening children's imaginations is far more important than saving opera. But if we can give opera a new spin along the way, then that's exciting too.’
The workshops take the children on a journey from the birth of opera in Italy in 1597 through to the Classical, Romantic and Modern eras, touching on different parts of the curriculum, such as Geography and History, while also inspiring children to believe that they are capable of great things.
‘ABC officially stands for Academy of Barmy Composers,’ explains Llewelyn Evans. ‘But we had a young autistic lad who said at the end of a session, “I think it stands for Anybody Can with the help of the academy”’.
‘ABC is about working together and realising that ‘baroque’ means ‘oddly shaped’ or ‘to be different’, so we praise that. We celebrate the fact that we’re not all the same, and that by being different we can educate each other and get remarkable results.’
A typical workshop, which lasts for a full day, involves three professional musicians – two singers and a pianist – going into a school with a large trunk containing costumes, music and props. The session starts with a warm-up, such as a clapping game, then out comes a magic story book that lights up when the children sing to it, introducing them to some of opera's principal composers – who are given wacky names such as Maestro Monteverdi, Luckless Lully and Windy Wolfgang.
‘We’ve found some remarkable facts about them that resonate with the children in many ways’ says Llewelyn Evans. ‘So whether it was Mozart being autistic – and there's lots of things to suggest that he was – or Beethoven being deaf, the children find these characters inspirational as they were able to succeed and produce amazing results despite their own challenges.’
Adventures through music
The children are also encouraged to look on the globe to find composer's hometowns, identify countries’ flags, learn words in new languages, listen to some of the music, sing a few songs, and talk about how the music makes them feel.
‘The big ethos of ABC is that nothing is wrong. So, if one child feels the music is sad then it's sad, but it may feel happy to somebody else. I think that's really important in education that they’re allowed to express themselves, and that they are able to take control and possession of the story.’
April 2019 saw the publication of the first of Llewelyn Evans's four tie-in books, The Academy of Barmy Composers: Baroque, with illustrations by Karl Davis. The book tells the story of Jack and Megan and a time-travelling trunk that takes them back to 16th century Italy to meet opera inventor Professor Peri, Perfect Purcell, Too Hot to Handel and other barmy composers. Book 2, which Mark is currently writing, will see the trunk whisking Jack and Megan off to Salzburg for a similarly madcap adventure.
The books are ideal for teachers who want a follow-up to the workshops, and there will soon be a teachers’ pack available filled with suggested tasks, games and activities.
Meanwhile, Mark is hoping to expand the project across the UK and overseas, with a planned trip to Hong Kong in 2020 and the possibility of taking the workshops to Sydney.
‘The idea that we could turn on a light bulb’, he says, ‘and make children all over the globe feel good about themselves, would be very exciting indeed.’
Llewelyn Evans believes that Opera can build children's confidence