Metropolitan Opera Extends Its Populist Mission

As of this month, the Metropolitan Opera is bringing its populist message to a new audience: schoolchildren. Last Saturday, the Met transmitted "Roméo et Juliette," starring Anna Netrebko, live via satellite to high-definition screens at five New York City public high schools. Some 2,000 students and family members attended for free. On New Year's Day, the Met will transmit to the same schools its new production of "Hansel and Gretel." Today, 2,500 students will spend their last day of school at the Met's first student open house, watching the final dress rehearsal of "Hansel and Gretel" and learning about how the sets and costumes are made. This outreach to public-school students is a new element in general manager Peter Gelb's multipronged effort to bring opera back into the cultural mainstream. Since he took over last year, Mr. Gelb has hired directors from Broadway and Hollywood, lowered the price of the cheapest tickets in the house to $15, and established a rush-ticket program, in which seats that normally cost more than $100 are sold for $20. Mr. Gelb's initiative to transmit opera live to movie theaters has been perhaps his biggest success. The number of venues was tripled this season to 600, and several other opera companies, including most recently, the San Francisco Opera, have announced plans to start similar programs.

Last spring, Mr. Gelb met with the chancellor of the Department of Education, Joel Klein, to propose expanding the high-definition transmissions to public schools. Mr. Klein and his deputy for arts education, Sharon Dunn, were immediately interested, and, by the summer, the Department of Education had chosen five schools, one in each borough, to participate in the program. The criteria, Ms. Dunn said, were that the schools have auditoriums with adequate seating and the technological capacity to receive the equipment, and that they serve communities that wouldn't necessarily have access to the Met Opera otherwise.

In an interview, Mr. Gelb said that it was logical to use the Met's new media programs — which, besides the HD series, include live Internet streams of operas and a 24-hour channel on SIRIUS Satellite Radio — for arts education. "I don't believe there's ever been a significant opera education program using technology before," he said. Mr. Gelb said that, if the program is successful this year, he hopes next year to expand it nationally, or even internationally. "This is meant to provide an example of what is possible," he said.

In contrast to the transmissions to movie theaters, where tickets cost between $15 and $22, the tickets to the series at public schools are free, though they must be reserved in advance. The Department of Education notified art, music, theater, English, and social studies teachers about the dates and locations of the transmissions in each borough, and invited them to bring their classes. Along with the Metropolitan Opera Guild and the opera's first director of educational outreach, Marsha Drummond, the department also offered teacher-training sessions in each borough, to help teachers prepare their students and integrate the opera into their curriculum. The teachers received guides to the opera, as well as the libretto and a CD of the music.

The HD projectors were donated by Panasonic, while the cost of the other equipment — the satellites and motorized HD screens — and of installation was assumed by the Met, with help from the Department of Education.

"It's not cheap," Mr. Gelb acknowledged, "but it's worthwhile if we can enrich children with this experience and make them aware of this sophisticated art form." He added: "The vast cost of these productions is in the productions themselves," compared to which the cost of transmitting to additional venues is incremental.

At the High School for Enterprise, Business and Technology in Brooklyn, all 1,000 seats in the auditorium had been reserved for last Saturday's transmission of "Roméo et Juliette," the audio technology teacher, Kenneth McLaughlin, said, but, because of the ice storm the night before and delays on the L train, only 560 people made it. (Because it is transmitted live, the opera starts promptly at 1 p.m., weather and trains notwithstanding.) Still, he was pleased with the turnout.

Mr. McLaughlin put a group of 100 students in charge of making the experience feel like one at a professional theater. They ran the box office and coat check, managed the sound levels and the auditorium lights, sold snacks, and served as ushers to lead people to their seats.

"It was really a group effort and gave the students their first real experience in being these professionals," Mr. McLaughlin said.

Henryetter Singh, who is a freshman at Progress High School, another school on the same campus as the High School for Enterprise, Business and Technology, served as an usher. In an interview, Ms. Singh said she had never been to the opera, though she had seen advertisements on television. "I was really surprised that we had an opportunity like this," she said.

The Met provided the school with 100 posters and a 20-foot banner featuring an image of Ms. Netrebko, whose smoldering gaze and pin-up figure attracted much attention and curiosity, particularly from the male students.

"We didn't try to use a more conservative image because it was schoolkids," Mr. Gelb said. "I thought, if anything, it should be somewhat provocative, so their interest would be piqued."

Ms. Dunn, from the Department of Education, attended the screening in Brooklyn and said she was extremely moved. "I had no idea what the extent of the impact would be until I saw the kids enjoying it and wanting to come back for more," she said. "Our goal is to have more schools take advantage of it." Through April, the Met is hosting backstage tours for small groups from each of the five participating schools. On December 13, a journalism class from Long Island City High School attended a dress rehearsal of "Roméo et Juliette," had a tour, and interviewed Mr. Gelb and Ms. Netrebko.

A senior, Ariadne Reza, said she enjoyed standing on the Met stage, and hearing about the work that goes into a production. "All the work that goes into the sets is really incredible," she said. "They were saying that they have five stage-sized rooms."

Another senior, Muhammed Malik, said he was amazed to learn that tickets to the opera are available for as little as $15. "I'm planning a trip with my family to go to the Met," Mr. Malik said.

The students at the open house today will see exhibits on how the sets and costumes for "Hansel and Gretel" were made, and how the special effects, which include fire and smoke, are produced. Since the story has strong themes of eating and sweets, the Met decided to have a baking contest, for the best Bûche de Noël, among students in high school culinary programs. The contest will be judged by the pastry chef at Jean-Georges, Johnny Iuzzini, and the winner will be announced at the end of the performance.

If the school transmissions are expanded nationally next year, Ms. Drummond — who is the Met's first education director — said she might travel around the country to do teacher-training programs in the larger markets. She is also building up the resources for both teachers and students on the Met's Web site. "There's an opportunity to mine the [Met's] archives and make it interactive and 3-D," she said, adding that she hopes to have "something substantial" on the Web site by mid-to-late January. Mr. Gelb said that outreach to students is fundamental to his mission to broaden the audience for opera.

"I'm not foolish enough to think that opera is ever going to be a middle-of-the-road, popular experience, because it's not; it is high art," he said. But "across the entire economic and social spectrum, there are people who will be drawn to the beauty and magnificence of great opera. It won't be a majority of any social strata, but we'd like to draw from all."