RMHC Grant Helps Bring Opera to Young Students
In-School Opera, an education program of the Young Patronesses of the Opera that allows elementary school children in Miami-Dade and Broward counties to experience professional opera at school each year, has received one of the largest grants ever distributed by the Ronald McDonald House Charities (RMHC) of South Florida. The grant was announced recently by Julie Todaro, producer of In-School Opera.
The $13,265 grant will be used for In-School Opera programs like Diack's operetta Papageno, an adaptation of Mozart's Magic Flute, currently being performed at elementary schools across South Florida. It also will go for printing costs for 40,000 workbooks that aid teachers in explaining story lines and includes songs, features, games and puzzles, and introduces the composer, Mozart.
"We are overwhelmed by the generosity of RMHC and are grateful that they recognize the importance of exposing children to the beauty of opera at a young age," said Todaro, whose mother, Louise Todaro, founded the program in 1975 and is producer emeritus. "Children who fall in love with opera today are the opera supporters of tomorrow."
Since the In-School Opera's inception in 1975, nearly 400,000 children in public and private schools around South Florida have seen professional performances like Papageno such as Hansel and Gretel, Jack and the Bean Stalk, Little Red Riding Hood and more.
RMHC issues local grants to South Florida children's charities every year in an array of areas. The primary distribution of these grants helps children in the fields of health and medical needs, social and civic concerns, and education and the arts.
By Ashley K. Serrate | Published by Miami's Community Newspapers