"Where Opera Is Young Again"
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Upcoming Shows and Events
A Note of Explanation
book and lyrics by A.J. Freeman, music by Shoshana Yavneh Shattenkirk
Based on the extraordinarily tiny book by Vita Sackville-West
A NOTE OF EXPLANATION is an original children's opera written by Shoshana Shattenkirk, and AJ Freeman, based on the children's book by renowned author, Vita Sackville-West, commissioned in 1922 by Queen Mary for the library of her dollhouse.
The book is the size of a postage stamp, and it sat in the library of the world's largest, and most famous dollhouse completely undetected for nearly a century. During efforts to maintain and restore the dollhouse in 2017, the book was discovered, and subsequently published.
Shattenkirk and Freeman obtained the rights to the story to bring it new life through the medium of children's opera. The story centers on the adventures of a time-traveling sprite who lives in the dollhouse.
Although scenes from the opera have been performed at Lincoln Center, El Paso will be the site of the world premiere performances of this new work.
Four Performances at the
Plaza Philanthropy Theatre
March 6th - 8th 2026!
click here for samples of the music
Congratulations Seniors!
Sophie Spier
UCLA
Gigi Daniels
University of Tennessee
Brises Oliva
Culinary Institute of America
from Broadway composer
Jason Robert Brown
Paulina Andrade
West Texas A&M
Chloe Brown
Marywood
University
Isabella Chiu
NYU
CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL OF OUR ALL-STATE COMPETITORS!!
Sophie Spier
1st Chair Alto 2
Four Time Texas All-State Champion
2021-2022
2022-2023
2023-2024
2024-2025
Pablo Anchondo
Chantal Assael Fernandez
Miller Colquitt
Gianmarco DiPascuale
Soraya Farnam
Emma Fernandez
19 YOEP New Mexico 2024-2025 All-State Champions!
The Largest Group Attending!
Fernando Holguin Ramos
Alexa Hernandez Chavira
Ellie Kaufmann
Karen Maynes
Lily Mendoza
Kennedy Miller
Luisa Mercado
Justina Tanabe
Kalista Ungos
Patricio Vargas
Zoe Velasco
Maycie Vizcaya
Ben Wallis
Makayla Yagel
Apollo Smith
Alabama All-State
Tenor/Bass Choir
Congratulations Emma Fernandez!
For winning First place in the Music International grand Prix youth Division
Emma singing "Los Laureles"
Emma singing "Volver Volver"
YOEP Kids in the Spotlight...
Youth Opera kids performed in the
Music International Grand Prix Competition in January.
The results were fantastic! We're so proud of them!
1st Place in Kids Pop,
2nd & 3rd Place in Teen pop,
2nd Place in Teen Classical,
and Youth Opera of El Paso won Best School!!
We also had our amazing Sophie Spier performing an online duet of Stevie Nicks "Landslide" with Broadway Performer Theresa Hui!
Our Annual Program
Our Annual Program
The Youth Opera of El Paso is dedicated to providing young singers in our community with “hands-on” experience in opera and it's related genres. We strive to collaborate with organizations in our area to reinforce the importance of opera in preserving cultural ideas and communicating the human experience.
