Students take in free opera courtesy of local company

Woodland — Yale Elementary School students were treated to a performance from Opera Quest Northwest during a recent assembly. Opera Quest is a nonprofit dedicated to bringing opera to students. They performed “Opera the Great,” a made-for-schools opera the organization created to bring to schools for free to introduce children to the art form. “From the moment we started the organization, we felt strongly that we should provide our show to schools at no cost, if possible,” Kate Hobbie, board chair and a performer with the organization, said in a release from Woodland Public Schools. “We created and co-wrote the show with a teacher of third- to fifth-grade students to make it appeal to kids right from the start.” The Vancouver-based company performed in 20 elementary schools in the 2016-2017 school year.