In Februry, 146 students from two GUSD schools attended L.A. Opera’s student matinee performance of ‘The Prospector,” a one-act opera commissioned by L.A. Opera and inspired by the opera, “The Girl of the Golden West” (“La Fanciulla del West”). Students from Celeste Maeshiro’s and Nicholas James’ classes at Lincoln Elementary and students from the Valley View classes of Karla Bringas, Christine Aroyan, Lisa Jenks, and Charlotte Briner attended the morning matinee, which this year was staged for the first time at the Huntington Botanical Gardens and Library’s newly constructed Rothenberg Hall, which seats 374 students.

The La Crescenta students listened to a brief talk on the California Gold Rush by Huntington staff before viewing the interactive performance. L.A. Opera community educator and GUSD parent Neda Farhoumand said that L.A. Opera’s elementary school programs not only support California Dept. of Education standards in the arts, social studies and the language arts, but also introduce children to the world of opera through stories and music thereby setting them on a lifelong engagement with opera and the arts.