Opera Quiz Kid

by Sarah Elzas

Opera has become cool, at least at Long Island City High School (LICHS). Jessica Agudelo, a junior, gets up early to attend opera classes at school twice a week at. She was recently selected as a Quiz Kid panelist out of 150 students across the country in a competition where they answered questions about Verdi’s Aida, Bizet’s Carmen and Mozart’s The Magic Flute.

Agudelo feels a particular connection with Carmen because of her “Spanish background.” She also loves the plot with its feminist themes. “Its about her [Carmen] being so powerful and dominant,” she explains.

“My main goal in life is to become a singer,” says Agudelo. But she wants to go to college, too. “I want to explore music as well as academics,” she explains.

According to Principal Bill Bassell, who teaches an Opera Seminar twice a week, 70 percent of LICHS students live below the poverty line. But with grant money, he has created an art focus at this neighborhood school. Along with opera, the school offers instrumental and singing groups, visual arts classes, computer design and an honors art history course. All with four full time art teachers. “Arts education is so important because it becomes the hook to keep students in school,” he says.

And Agudelo has been hooked. “Her biggest fault is that she tries to do everything at once,” says Bassell. Jayne Skoog, who runs the school’s performance-based Opera Workshop, agrees, “Jessica likes everything.” Skoog worked with Agudelo to prepare for the competition, making sure she knew the story, subtext and form usage.

Skoog, a former professional opera singer, agrees with Bassell about the importance of art. “This is an outlet for them to express their emotions,” she says. “What we have at this school should be a standard for all the schools in the city.”

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