We realized in the process of creating this show that the accessibility of superheroes allowed us to introduce these young audiences to classical music and opera in an organic and powerful way, while also giving us the opportunity to educate and inspire them. Much like a superhero in the comic book world, our characters have origin stories, and use their talents to make the world a better place. Operation Superpower’s main message is that everyone has a superpower or talent which can enrich their own life, and be used to help others. How did you develop the show’s message, and what kind of interaction is there between performers and the audience? L-r: Erica Iris, Aaron Sheppard and Jean-Philippe Fortier-Lazure in the Glencore Ensemble Studio School Tour production of Operation Superpower, 2015. From there, we have been growing and developing the project alongside our personal careers, and it has been a deeply rewarding experience. With our experiences performing different variations of the program over several years, we learned from our audiences (the students!) what worked, and what didn’t. Thus Operation Superpower was born a program designed for students ages 6-12, to inspire them to discover their own superpowers, and to learn about classical music. Then, after a few years of collaboration and work with the Juilliard Entrepreneurial and Professional Mentorship programs, we realized that with this special music and our own personal superpowers (singing, composing, and playing piano) we could seamlessly make the transition from large-scale orchestral project to in-school assembly program. We recorded these two pieces with an orchestra comprised of our Juilliard classmates in 2009. He started by writing two astounding works for baritone and full orchestra, titled “Hope” and “Courage”, which are loosely based on existing superhero tropes. Armand had an idea for an awesome composition project, which stemmed from some late-night conversations we’d had about how cool it would be if someone wrote a superhero opera. We created Operation Superpower together with our two friends and classmates, Armand Ranjbaran (composer) and Peter Dugan (pianist), during our time at the Juilliard School. How did the idea for Operation Superpower come about? Photo: Aaron Sheppard, Jean-Philippe Fortier-Lazure, and Erica Iris in the 2015 Glencore Ensemble Studio School Tour production of Operation Superpower. It’s an interactive show for 6- to 12-year olds, where young audiences can find their own hidden superpowers so far, they’ve performed for ~50,000 superheroes-in-training.īrancy and Greenhalgh talk about creating Operation Superpower, and why it “has the ability to positively impact the world of classical music & opera at large.” This year, one of the two touring productions is Operation Superpower, originally created by four Juilliard grads, composer Armand Ranjbaran, pianist Peter Dugan, and baritones John Brancy and and Tobias Greenhalgh. The 2015 Canadian Opera Company’s Glencore Ensemble Studio School Tour is underway, bringing opera for young people into schools. Opera with a message: Operation Superpower Interview Jenna Simeonov Nov 28, 2015
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