Sarasota Opera has been awarded a grant from the Jay K. Turner Fund of the Manatee Community Foundation to expand its education outreach activities through the Resident Artist program in Manatee County schools. The funding supports this year’s pilot program, which has been extended from the standard one week to six weeks. The singers, pianists, stage director, and staff are working to serve as many schools as possible across both Manatee and Sarasota Counties this fall. The results from this year’s extended outreach schedule will help us to expand the 2024-25 program as we work towards providing opera education outreach to the schools for longer periods to reach more and more students. According to Sarasota Opera’s General Director, Richard Russell, “we are grateful for Manatee Community Foundation’s support which helps us expand our impact in schools in the county. With input from the schools, Sarasota Opera has been re-envisioning its education programming to serve more students. We look forward to even more opportunities in the future.” Martha Collins, Director of Education at Sarasota Opera, who works directly with the schools and oversees the artists and outreach schedule, says that the reaction from schools has been incredibly positive. “We are especially excited to work with underserved communities and Title 1 schools that often do not have the resources to attend a school-time performance at the Sarasota Opera House.” Collins believes this expanded outreach schedule will allow teachers and schools more flexibility to incorporate opera education into their lesson plans.