Photo by Pat Sunderland
Telling a story through music
Joe Siennicki, the music teacher at Garnet Mesa Elementary, received one of this year’s Arch Coal Innovative Teaching Grants. “No ... Not Opera!!” is an innovative project that ties music (opera) to story writing. As a part of his project, three members and a pianist from the Central City Opera performed segments of Mozart and Company, a variety of songs and stories from Mozart and other composers/writers. Above, two opera members perform a scene from “Hansel and Gretel.” During the engaging presentation, several students and principal Jim Farmer played assorted roles. “This is an event that the students at Garnet Mesa have never seen and might not ever see again,” Siennicki said.