[This is a guest post by school tour manager and composer Dean Burry, who is currently travelling with the Xstrata Ensemble Studio School Tour. Dean Burry composed the children's operas Isis and the Seven Scorpions (currently touring) and The Brothers Grimm] 

My stay in Sudbury continues to be an eye-opening experience. I woke up to a beautiful sunny morning (though snow is apparently on the way) and was picked up by my driver for the day (ooh la la) Dick Perras. Dick is a retired music teacher from the area and we really hit it off. He had to drive me to the town of Levack, which is about 30 minutes outside of Sudbury, and proved to be an excellent tour guide. Apparently, Sudbury is built in the middle of a giant meteor crater which is why there is such a high concentration of mineral resources here. We drove across the centre of the crater and you could see the rim in the distance. In the centre of the crater is very flat and fertile farmland, which is a real contrast to the rest of the region. Dick and I had a great conversation about fishing, setting rabbit snares and hunting partridge. He told me that this was not a conversation he imagined having with a Toronto opera composer. I told him I was from Newfoundland, and then it all made sense to him. 

My schools were again very welcoming. It feels so good to be giving these kids their first opera experience. Doing workshops like this for young people sometimes feels like a performance in itself. As in Isis and the Seven Scorpions, I have to find a way to engage both the kindergarten students (be a bit of a clown) and the sixth graders (play it cool and laid back). I do a little exercise where I ask a child to pretend to read a blank letter while I play various samples of mood music in the background to demonstrate how emotion is conveyed through music. Today I asked five-year-old Emma to help me out. Not sure she knew what a "letter" was, but she did a great job. Another very rewarding day. 

Cool and Laid Back Clown signing off.

Photo © Dean Burry 2011