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A Youthful Festival
In April, the County of Los Angeles Public Library presents German Opera Tales in partnership with LA Opera. This fun, high energy show tours to various libraries for free family performances. The "opera pals," four professional opera singers, perform musical moments from such German opera stories as Wagner's Das Rheingold, Humperdinck's Hansel und Gretel, and Mozart's The Abduction from the Seraglio in celebration of LA Opera's Ring cycle and the Ring Festival LA.
On April 16, Los Angeles Educational Partnership' Humanitas program will come to the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion to present a multi-media student arts festival in partnership with LA Opera. Students and teachers from more than 30 LAUSD schools will collaborate with Los Angeles artists to explore Wagner's Ring cycle through visual art, fashion, spoken word, music, film and other art forms.
The Los Angeles Public Library presents the "We Tell Stories" play Rhine's Gold on April 24, at the Central Library. The award-winning children's storytelling troupe has produced this original children's play based on Richard Wagner's opera, Das Rheingold. After its debut, it will tour to various libraries in Los Angeles.
The Music Center of Los Angeles County's Pillow Theatre is a free performance series designed specifically for families with children ages 3 through 6, with interactive visual arts workshops following each performance. Pillow Theatre brings German Opera Tales to the Grand Hall of Dorothy Chandler Pavilion on May 1, for two performances at 10 and 11:15 am. Little ones will be introduced to wonderful stories and melodies of some of the most beloved German operas, including Humperdinck's Hansel und Gretel, Wagner's Das Rheingold, and Mozart's The Abduction from the Seraglio.
Symphony in the Glen will present a concert "Union in Partition: The Case of Wagner v. Mendelssohn," that will take puckish delight in presenting both Richard Wagner's Bridal Chorus from Lohengrin and Felix Mendelssohn's A Midsummer Night's Dream. Maestro Arthur B. Rubinstein and the orchestra, joined by the Independent Shakespeare Company and a children's chorus, will transform Griffith Park into Shakespeare's Athenian forest.
The Young Musicians Foundation takes the stage at the Broad Theatre on January 31, at 4pm presenting Act II of Wagner's Tristan und Isolde at the Broad Stage in Santa Monica. They will also perform a concert at UCLA's Royce Hall on June 5.
 Partner Profile by Asuka Hisa, Santa Monica Museum of Art
Park Studio: RING
The Santa Monica Museum of Art (SMMoA) is a kunsthalle, a non-collecting museum that presents exhibitions and programs that foster diversity, innovation, and discovery in contemporary art. Through partnerships and collaborations, the museum is able to connect to a wide range of information and knowledge that enhances the life of the mind and the spirit. When LA Opera proposed participation in the 2010 Ring Festival, we were happy to jump on board. As luck would have it, the festival period falls during SMMoA's summer exhibitions of work by Andrew Lord, Arik Levy, and teen participants of Park Studio, one of our signature outreach programs. The Park Studio program, which takes place in the spring, will be devoted to the creation of projects inspired by the Ring cycle.
During the period between March 29 and April 8, approximately twenty high school students from Santa Monica will learn about Richard Wagner's seminal work, Der Ring des Nibelungen. Park Studio will explore the symbolism of the ring in the opera-power, greed, desire-and extend parallels in today's culture. Students will participate in Ring cycle discussions with SMMoA's educators, collaborating artists, and guest speakers. They will have a backstage tour of LA Opera and see a dress rehearsal of Götterdämmerung. Finally, with the help of environmental artist Gordon Bowen and his Arts ReFoundry Atelier, students will interpret the meaning and power of the ring, casting their own original bronze ring sculptures. Bowen's foundry is completely made from recycled materials. The final exhibition of the students' bronze works at SMMoA will be titled Park Studio: RING and will be on view from May 15 to August 21, 2010.
For over 10 years, Park Studio has provided unforgettable and formative experiences for teens. Through transformative experiences of art making and collaboration with established artists and organizations, participants gain access to ideas and opportunities that have the potential to shape their adult lives. Our partnership with LA Opera for the 2010 Ring Festival LA is a wonderful match that beautifully aligns with our program's goals.
Asuka Hisa, Director of Education, Santa Monica Museum of Art
Ms. Hisa is a Los Angeles native. She received her B.A. from Barnard College in New York and her National Diploma of Art from the École des Beaux Arts in France. Before joining the Santa Monica Museum of Art in 1998, she was an art educator with the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District and has worked with youth and art in France. She became the museum's Director of Education in 2000. Ms. Hisa is the Board President of the Museum Educators of Southern California a member of Art Table. In 2003, she received the Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres from the French Ministry of Culture. In 2007, she was appointed to the Arts Commission of the City of Santa Monica.
 Los Angeles Conservancy
The Los Angeles Conservancy, the largest membership-based local historic preservation organization in the country, is dedicated to the recognition, preservation, and revitalization of the architectural and cultural heritage of greater Los Angeles.
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 Musical Theatre Guild
On June 14, 2010, at 7:30pm MTG will present Das Barbecü, at the Alex Theatre in Glendale. The musical is a country-western parody of the Ring cycle. The Hollywood Reporter commented: "Conjure up your basic Texas hootenanny, complete with lassos, long-neck beers, fringed leather and steel guitars.
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Volume 1 | Issue 4 
The HeArt Project, a program for teenagers in alternative high schools, came to the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion on December 4 to remix the Ring. Guided by professional artists, HeArt Project teens have been examining Richard Wagner's epic since the start of the school year, asking questions such as how can contemporary youth culture and new technologies re-imagine Wagner's vision in the 21st century? Can 21st-century innovation and technology illuminate connections to the grand visions of the past? Can the epic struggles of ancient myth be re-configured for an accelerated globalized culture? Students have been reflecting on these concepts while creating their own artwork. These works were displayed and discussed on December 4. It is exciting to think of these young people undertaking this examination and we are pleased that additional students will visit in March and June. 
Road to the Ring Events
