New Chapter for Opera in Springs

Over the last 20 years, the Springs School has accomplished what mainstream opera — in its 400 or so years of history — has been unable to do: engage a young audience.

Each year at the school, fourth graders have helped to stage an opera. It is no easy feat, but with the tireless efforts of Colleen McGowan, the school’s coordinator of the visual arts program, and Sue Ellen O’Connor, a coordinator of the opera program from its inception, this perennial event has become something of a highlight in the community.

Now, one of those productions — number 18 — has been turned into a book.

The pair of teachers were involved for 19 of the last 20 productions, shepherding operas based on a variety of topics, from bullying and other social issues to more emotional tales of breakups of parents and friends. Over the years historical events and East End folklore were also dramatized, such as the 1929 fire that burned down the school and — Ms. McGowan and Ms. O’Connor’s all-time favorite — the search for locally buried pirate treasure.

“Bound for Gardiner’s Island” told the adventures of a group of restless Springs children who set off by boat for that island in the hope of finding the chest of gold supposedly buried there by Captain Kidd in 1699. It was a perfect opportunity to weave together local history, original East End characters, storytelling, music, and a good old-fashioned lesson of thankfulness and appreciation of home.

Ms. O’Connor decided the opera was a good one to be translated into a book. “We received a very generous grant of about $1,800 from the Greater East Hampton Education Foundation to turn this into a book,” she by phone. “That paid for us to self-publish the book and get it on Amazon.” It is currently for sale for $8.99.

But to get there, Ms. O’Connor said, required a monumental effort by all involved. She called the project “a true labor of love.”

Ms. McGowan explained that last year’s fourth graders were assigned the task of creating the book. With the help of their teachers, they embarked upon deep research into Gardiner’s Island and its link to piracy during the late 1600s.

Next, students edited the original opera’s script so it worked more like a storybook. Other fourth graders depicted scenes with colorful renderings of the story’s characters. Original music by Kyril Bromley and Angelina Monica, the musical director, is also featured throughout the pages.

For Ms. McGowan, the book is a lasting vestige of her involvement with the opera project. She said she has always been a passionate supporter of opera, and, after attending three teacher workshops at the Metropolitan Opera, she knew she had to find a way to hook her students as well.

Ms. O’Connor believes books translated from live performances teach young kids to read aloud, something they don’t often do. Many of the lines in the book are written in couplet or song, so students learn how to enunciate, explained Ms. O’Connor, who was a schoolteacher for 43 years, and this helps develop public-speaking skills.

Her dream is to create a printed volume of all 19 operas she worked on at the Springs School to serve as a teaching tool for schools everywhere.

Or, simply as a reminder that there is no place like Springs: “There’s no need to travel far / We’re happy where we are / Each spring we see the osprey / we’re happy for each day / Treasure wouldn’t change our lives / We’re happy where we are / there’s no need to travel far.”