In 1989 the Children’s Musical Theatre Studio was set up at the National Academic Opera and Ballet Theatre of the Republic of Belarus. It is a unique phenomenon for opera houses of the world.
In March 1990 young artists made their debut with grand open concert accompanied by the symphony orchestra of the theatre, and at the end of the year the premiere of the musical Peter Pan by Alexander Budko was presented to the audience. This work proved the Children’s Musical Theatre Studio’s right to be a full member of opera performances.
The young artists of the Theatre Studio participate in such opera performances as The Magic Flute by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, La bohème by Giacomo Puccini, Carmen by Georges Bizet, Khovanshchina by Modest Mussorgsky, La traviata and Nabucco by Giuseppe Verdi, Prince Igor by Alexander Borodin, Aleko by Sergey Rachmaninov, Cavalleria rusticana by Pietro Mascagni, and other performances which according to the author’s concept demand the participation of the children’s choir and extras.
The children’s choir participates in such ballet performances as La création du monde (The Creation of the World), The Nutcracker, La Esmeralda, and Carmina Burana.
The main admission campaign is held at the beginning of the theatrical season. The requirements to the candidates are: basic musical education, artistry, flexibility, age of 7-8.
The classes are held three or four times a week. The children learn a difficult profession of a musical theatre actor attending training courses in acting, choreography and singing. The studio students familiarize themselves with the best classical opera samples and works by contemporary composers much earlier that their peers do.
Many of the studio alumni have connected their lives with professional arts: they continue their education at the Belarusian State Academy of Music, Tchaikovsky Moscow State Conservatoire, Vienna Academy of Music and Theatre, and work in theatres of Belarus, Russia, the Czech Republic, and Germany.
Manager Elena Neronskaya
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