Pupils get to know the score

Opera is being introduced to schoolchildren in Wolverhampton next week when of the country's most acclaimed companies comes to the city as part of its 30th anniversary.

English Touring Opera members will be visiting Penn Hall Special School and Newhampton Arts Centre ahead of their two shows at the Grand Theatre. The company will be taking to the stage with Mozart's Magic Flute and Janacek's Katya Kabanova on Monday and Tuesday.

But before they do, they will be performing The Sensory Magic Flute for youngsters at Penn Hall Special School on Monday, followed by Jack and the Beanstalk at Newhampton Arts Centre in Whitmore Reans on Tuesday for four to seven-year-olds.

ETO spokesman Sebastian Stern said today: "Jack and the Beanstalk is a wonderful piece where children are surrounded by 12 players as three singer/actors who will guide them through the story.

"The Sensory Magic Flute is a workshop designed to stimulate children with profound learning difficulties and their special needs."

ETO launched its season at the Grand in January. After a workshop with ETO performers, 24 children from Goldthorn Park Primary School took to the stage to perform an excerpt from their own opera, The Book of O.

The company will be working closely with Wolverhampton schools for the foreseeable future after receiving a grant for educational projects in the city.

Wolverhampton is one of just four areas in the country to be singled out for ETO attention in a bid to bring opera to the masses.