New Hampton students get a taste of opera

“Start young.”Opera Iowa troupe director Anthony Benz gave this advice during a master class last Monday to K-7 music teacher Kayla Reetz’s sixth-grade Keynotes choir students, as recited in unison by Maycen Hackman, Braelyn Rosonke, Olivia Hoy, Kaylee Johnson and Allie Johnson.“Stick with it!” Millie Garcia added.Form is important in singing, as with any physical activity, and students recalled this advice from Benz:“Projection and diction,” said Garcia.“Trying to keep your voice healthy without hurting your body,” Shelby Springer added.“Keep your rib cage open, and be OK with making silly noises,” Allie Johnson said. “If you want to be better, you need to be silly.”The visit from Benz and Opera Iowa colleagues to the New Hampton Elementary and Middle School last week was made possible by an Iowa Cultural Affairs grant Reetz wrote last spring and which was accepted last summer.— For more on this story, see the March 26 New Hampton Tribune.