Opera on Tap wins another competitive grant from Infosys Foundation USA to implement a research and development lab for its STEAM-based educational programming.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: JUNE 2023
Press Contact: press@operaontap.com
Opera on Tap (OOT) is thrilled to announce a major grant from Infosys Foundation USA to fund an addition to the Playground Opera program, OPERA MAKER LAB: a space for our education team to work with Makers and STEM-based educators to introduce students to STEM/STEAM through imaginative, magical, and operatic ways.
Launching officially in January of 2024, OPERA MAKER LAB is a collaborative effort by OOT and its inaugural partners, Makey Makey/Joylabz (JL), and Professor Adam Maltese and the MILL Makerspace + Uplands Maker Mobile of Indiana University’s (IU) School of Education. Students will be encouraged to create their own music and invent their own instruments by using the JL team’s Makey Makey Music Education Activity Kits: a developed set of projects, activities, products, and free online apps that music educators around the country will find engaging and easy to implement. With Professor Adam Maltese’s team, OOT will collaborate with IU’s famed School of Education and other organizations to create a hands-on summer camp for ‘opera-maker’ learning, serving rural communities surrounding the University and leveraging OOT’s OperaCades as a tool for maker and theatrical production-learning.
Through our inaugural partnership with Chibitronics and Infosys Foundation USA, OOT has already begun to deepen its commitment to Computer Science and Maker learning by welcoming the Playground Opera program to 12 U.S. States and 400 Title 1 classrooms. OPERA MAKER LAB will benefit from the vast distribution network we have already put in place and are continuing to build to expand STEAM-based learning tools to classrooms across the country.
OOT is currently developing OPERA MAKER LAB collaborations with Elementari to allow students to create narrations for the opera films they help us produce, along with Deaf Kids Code, who will assist us in integrating curriculum resources (i.e. sign language, tools for rhythm via visual cues) and musical methods for non-hearing students.
ABOUT PLAYGROUND OPERA
Playground Opera is a 2021 Infymaker Award-winning STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts and math) interdisciplinary program that emphasizes music and media concepts with life and career skills. The cornerstone of this popular Opera on Tap program is the National Education Foundation’s “Four Cs”: critical thinking, communication, collaboration, and creativity–and prioritizes active learning in order to create a participatory, interactive experience for a broad and diverse student community. To create a more active student engagement beyond passive viewing of videos, we explore innovative approaches to real- time interaction between students and our teaching artists, and our episodic curriculum is thoughtfully designed to be accessible and relatable to the 21st century learner by immersing students in every aspect of the creation, production and performance of an opera. In upcoming productions we will be utilizing game engine design and using virtual world-building tools to further immerse our students into the art form.
ABOUT INFOSYS FOUNDATION USA
Infosys Foundation USA was established in 2015 with the mission of expanding computer science and maker education to K-12 students and teachers across the United States, with a specific focus on increasing access to underrepresented communities. The Foundation achieves impact through delivering professional development programs for teachers, partnering with leading nonprofits, and delivering innovative media campaigns that inspire everyone to be creators, not just consumers, of technology. To learn more visit: https://www.infosys.org/infosys-foundation-usa/about.html
ABOUT MAKEY MAKEY/JOYLABZ
Makey Makey was originally conceived as an academic and artistic project initiated by two students at MIT Media Lab under the advisorship of Mitch Resnick. Now, it’s both a business and a project with thousands of community collaborators, with more joining the ranks of inventors everyday. The creators believe that everyone is creative, inventive, and imaginative, and that everyone can create the future and change the world. In fulfillment of this belief, they have dedicated their lives to making easy-to-use invention kits.
ABOUT PROFESSOR ADAM MALTESE
Professor Adam Maltese’s current research involves collection and analysis of both quantitative and qualitative data regarding student experiences, performance and engagement in science education from elementary school through graduate school. He currently teaches courses in secondary science methods and graduate seminars at the School of Education around making and the development of interest in STEM education. In addition, he leads a seminar for doctoral students in STEM fields who plan to pursue academic careers and are interested in improving their teaching practices based on research.
ABOUT CHIBITRONICS
Chibitronics blends circuit building and programming with arts and crafts. They make circuit stickers and other tools for educators, artists and crafters so everyone can create and design their own expressive electronics. Through Chibitronics’ community, tutorials and resources, educators can seamlessly integrate art, STEM, social studies, and language arts. Students can create interactive artwork, illuminate haikus, map the stars and the world around them, invent cardboard arcades and paper cities, and much more. To learn more visit: https://chibitronics.com/
ABOUT OPERA ON TAP
Opera on Tap began as a small monthly gathering of ambitious, classically-trained singers looking for more performance opportunities. OOT has grown into a producing organization that has gained a loyal audience base and national recognition as an innovative force on the classical music scene. Through its Chapter program, which now has twenty-five vibrant national and international chapters, OOT has created the world’s largest network of operatic performers, creators, and supporters. Visit our chapter page to view our chapters. Along the way, Opera on Tap has developed the Immersive Opera Project, New Brew, and other programming that commissions living composers, and performs works of contemporary composers. Our flagship education program, Playground Opera, educates children in the world of opera, music and theatre across the globe. We are headquartered as a national organization in Brooklyn, NY and, in addition to supporting our chapters around the world, present locally produced programs intended to adhere to our mission of community engagement through opera.
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For more information visit https://playground.operaontap.org
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