COC Teen Council
The COC Teen Council is a free leadership development program, empowering the next generation of creatives to find artistic ways to serve their communities.
Comprising 10 members, the council welcomes high school students to foster community engagement, creative action, and youth development through building real-world skills and helping students realize potential career pathways in the arts.
The COC Teen Council invites high school students interested in the performing arts to gain a deeper understanding of opera through exclusive access to COC artists, staff, mentorship, networking opportunities, and behind-the-scenes exploration.
Program Goals
- To gain leadership skills and develop a deeper artistic and cultural understanding of opera and the performing arts
- Empowering the next generation of creatives to find artistic ways to serve their communities
- Enabling students to gain industry-specific knowledge in opera and provide experiential learning experiences in the performing arts
This year, council members will explore the theme of “Opera as Innovation”, discovering the many ways that opera acts as a societal changemaker and leverages the creativity, ingenuity and passion of the people working behind the scenes.
The COC Teen Council will assist in the planning of youth-focused events throughout the season and will be able to access a variety of COC events and outreach performances, discussions, workshops with COC Teaching Artists, and social events. Three positions on the Teen Council will be designated as chair positions: Secretary Chair, Social Media Chair, and Community Outreach Chair.
Teen Council Positions
Secretary Chair
Secretary Chair
The Secretary Chair will be responsible for taking minutes from Council meetings, sharing internal communications, and preparing meeting documents. The ideal candidate should be detail-oriented, organized, and possess a high level of comfort with public speaking.
Community Outreach Chair
Community Outreach Chair
The Community Outreach Chair will be involved with planning and implementing outreach strategies to drive interest in our youth events. The ideal candidate should have a passion for diversity and community building, as well as embrace values of equity and inclusion.
Social Media Chair
Social Media Chair
The Social Media Chair will be responsible for proposing social media campaigns that align with the Council’s mandate. The ideal candidate should have an interest in communications and the ability to champion social media as a tool for positive change.
Applications for the COC Teen Council will be open until Friday, September 26, 2025 at 11:59 PM.
This program will be held in person at the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts, 1-2 Wednesdays per month from Oct 1, 2025 until June 11, 2026.
