The teaching artists of the company's Opera Goes to School program work with third, fourth, and fifth graders in a four-day workshop, teaching them how to perform in a real opera. The workshop encompasses all aspects of opera, including acting, singing, theatrical movement, and orchestra. Each workshop culminates in a performance for their school.

Professional opera singers from the Seattle Opera Young Artists Program perform the lead roles of Wagner's gods and goddesses in Theft of the Gold, while the children play Nibelung dwarves and Nature spirits or perform accompaniment in the orchestra directed by Father Rhine. Seattle Opera Young Artists Caitlin Lynch, Ani Maldjian, Teresa Herold, David Lara, Joshua Jeremiah, and Marcus Shelton will perform Theft of the Gold with the students at The Evergreen School in Shoreline. Stevenson Elementary in Bellevue (February 8 and 9), and Viewlands Elementary in Seattle.

Noah Baetge, Holly Boaz, Anya Matanovic, Julia Benzinger, Jonathan Lasch, and Michael McGee will perform Theft of the Gold with the students at Cottonwood Elementary in Yakima (February 1), Pioneer Elementary in Auburn (February 16), and St. Benedict's in Seattle (February 23). Producing 250 events and activities each year, Seattle Opera's Education Department is among the largest and most active of its type among arts organizations in the country. In the Education Department's Opera Goes to School program, professional Teaching Artists, singers from the Young Artists Program, and Education Department staff work with grade-school students and teachers to introduce them to the art form.

Opera Goes to School is now in its sixth season. Previous projects include Magic Flute: A Hero's Quest, an adaptation of Mozart's Zauberflöte, which was later recorded (featuring the voices of Seattle Opera Young Artists) and released on CD by Starbucks. Theft of the Gold: The Ring Begins is made possible through the support of the Charles Simonyi Fund for Arts and Sciences, The Clowes Fund, Inc., The Paul G. Allen Family Foundation, Peach Foundation, The Herman Lissner Foundation, U.S. Trust Corporation Foundation, Amgen, Inc., U.S. Bancorp Foundation, Bank of America, and PONCHO. Theft of the Gold: The Ring Begins is dedicated to the memory of the late Gertrude E. Sprenger. -- www.seattleopera.org