Performing Arts

The full script for "Seven Wands" by the Latino M-Team Opera Company

The group photo for the 2004-2005 Old School Opera Company 

Certificate for implementing the opera program at Metz

Metropolitan Opera Guild's Creating Original Opera Program

“Speak out and vote. Be heard! Be heard! And you can change this big world too!” Metz 4th graders sang in their originally written opera “Seven Wands.” The opera was written in the Creating Original Opera program, which according to former Metz teacher Sandi Heimsath, began about 13 years ago when a Metz music teacher got funding for two teachers to be trained in composing operas with students. Under this program, 4th grade students had the opportunity to write and perform their own operas, with the program culminating in a field trip to the Metropolitan Opera in New York. 

Featured here is the 2006-2007 opera “Seven Wands,” which tells a magical story of Metz’s long history through a cast of curious Metz students and the wise Lorraine ("Grandma") Camacho. The opera highlights the community’s fight for a new school building, bilingual and bicultural education, Cesar Chavez’s visit, and many other important moments.

Beyond school history, “Seven Wands” honors East Austin community members—such as the Camacho family—as well as Metz staff and teachers. In the song “Pioneers,” characters celebrate teachers with the refrain, “Pioneers, pioneers at Metz School at Metz School/ You have changed the Metz world too!” Characters honor past Metz principal Jose Flores’ work building the school’s bilingual program with the song “Bilingual and Bicultural,” which says, “When Jose Flores came to Metz, he changed all the rules, let the kids speak Spanish, he called the language cool.”

But the story of “Seven Wands” is much bigger than just school history: the opera tells of the importance of community engagement and raising your voice for causes that are important to you. For example, in the song “Magic,” characters sing the story of “The magic of accomplishing a goal/ The magic of people working together/ Magic when you believe that people can do great things.” The Grandma Camacho character also encourages the Metz students that “The vote is free! Everyone is equal when you vote. If you want something done, do it yourself vote!” 

In all, the Creating Original Opera program gave students the opportunity to explore community history and advocacy, all through the lens of the performing arts. However, according to Sandi Heimsath, over the years as standardized testing pressures rose, time typically allocated to programs like the Creating Original Opera program had to be greatly reduced.