Opera singers Amy Stabnau, Jamie Flora, and Craig Verm performed for the Opera Club.

Members of the Mt. Lebanon High School Opera Club got a special treat recently when the Pittsburgh Opera sent four professional opera singers and a pianist to put on an interactive opera improv session at the high school. Soprano Amy Stabnau, Tenor Jamie Flora, and Baritone Craig Verm entertained the students with excerpts from Rigoletto, The Marriage of Figuro, and performed an opera improvisation based on suggestions from the audience. The group is part of the education program at the Pittsburgh Opera and was provided at no charge because of high school Spanish teacher and Opera Club sponsor Lia Christulides's involvement in the Pittsburgh Opera Academy for Educators. As part of the program, she attends a professional development workshop before each opera along with other teachers from western Pennsylvania, Ohio, and West Virginia. The teachers learn about the opera's story, characters, setting, costumes, music, composer, language, historical and cultural contexts and staging and receive educational materials with ideas to introduce opera to their students. The culminating activity for students is a field trip to the student matinee or a visit from professional singers for an Opera Improv Program. 

Mrs. Christulides is also a member of the Opera on TAP (Teacher Advisory Panel) for the Pittsburgh Opera.  This panel works with Dr. Marilyn Egan, the Director of Education for the Pittsburgh Opera, to create lesson plan ideas for upcoming operas and materials for teacher workshops and educational outreach programs.