600+ Local Kids Treated to Opera-to-Go

Apartnership between Arts for Rural Texas and Round Top’s Festival Institute helped bring Houston Grand Opera To-Go to more than 600 elementary students from across Fayette County on Oct. 4.

The performance was called, “Katie: Strongest of the Strong” and had an all-female cast from composer Faye Chiao and librettist Anton Dudley. Photos of the crowd and the performance are above. This fine art assembly was underwritten by Tom Vining and Dent Beal. It is also funded in part by the support of Judy and Richard Agee. The James Dick Foundation was proud to cosponsor the event and donated use of the concert hall for free.

Before the opera began, Pat Johnson of Festival Hill, and Kevin White of ARTS introduced the opera (left) and along with a cast member asked the students if they had ever been to Festival Hill before or had ever been to an opera. For many the event was the first on both counts. Students from La Grange, Fayetteville, Round Top-Carmine, Sacred Heart along with home school students all attended.