Opera to Be Composed for S.D. Children

San Diego Opera has commissioned composer Jeffrey Rockwell to write a children’s opera to be produced in city and county schools.

“Rip Van Winkle” will augment the company’s “Hansel and Gretel” educational program, where a professional team from San Diego Opera spends six weeks in residence at an elementary school to produce an opera by and for the students.

Ian Campbell, the opera’s general director, announced the commission Monday.

The “Rip Van Winkle” project’s first production will be in October at San Diego’s O’Farrell School for the Creative and Performing Arts.

According to the opera’s education director, William Roesch, San Diego Opera’s commission of a children’s opera to be performed by children is unique among U. S. opera companies.

“Most of the companies present operas sung by adults for children,” Roesch said Monday. “We have found that students understand opera more when they do it, and they also benefit from the pride of participation.”

Roesch said the popularity of the “Hansel and Gretel” project, which is based on an adaptation of the Engelbert Humperdinck fairy tale opera, encouraged the company to expand its offerings. It will also allow the educational program to return with a different opera to a school that already has a “Hansel and Gretel” residency.

Rockwell, a Los Angeles-based composer who has written works for musical theater and children’s television, based his opera on Washington Irving’s short story about the legendary Rip Van Winkle. The opera’s libretto was written by J. Sherwood (Jack) Montgomery, who has directed the opera’s “Hansel and Gretel” program for two years. An actor and director, Montgomery has been associated with a number of companies in San Diego and Chicago.

Montgomery said the Rip Van Winkle legend was selected because it is a story involved with American history appropriate for fourth- through sixth-graders, the target audience for the opera’s educational program. Because elementary students have always reacted enthusiastically to the role of the witch in “Hansel and Gretel,” the supernatural elements of “Rip Van Winkle”--the ghostly appearance of explorer Henry Hudson--made it a strong choice.