Brian Crosby knows that education goes far beyond the classroom.
Of course, the classroom is important too—Brian’s been an English and journalism teacher at Hoover High School in Glendale for 31 years. But he’s always made space to include opera in his curriculum. It “expand[s] their knowledge of literature, history, and the arts,” inside and outside the classroom’s walls.
And LA Opera has been able to meet him in kind. Through LA Opera Connects, Brian has been able to bring his students to the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion to experience opera up close and personal.
It’s not just the tickets, either. Brian crafts lesson plans to help his students connect what they learn in the classroom to what they see on stage, deepening their LA Opera learning experience. And volunteers from the Opera League come to classrooms to give talks about opera and help connect the students to the art form. Brian’s classroom volunteer, Leslie Einstein, even helped transform his classroom into a Parisian café for the day.
Brian plans to retire next year, but before then, he got one last chance to take his students to LA Opera. They saw La Bohème—which happens to be his favorite.
La Bohème, 2019 (Photo by Cory Weaver)
These students are the next generation of opera lovers, and we have caring, passionate educators like Brian to thank for that. We at LA Opera are deeply grateful to be able to share the art form we love with our community.
If you want to kickstart students’ passion for opera (it only takes one to get hooked!), there’s no better way than giving to LA Opera. We’re a nonprofit organization, and ticket sales fund less than half of each season’s budget. Your support helps us make up the difference. Support from opera lovers like you lets us give students like those in Brian’s class the kind of firsthand experience that they can’t get anywhere else—and ensuring the future of opera for generations to come.
