Scottish Opera’s (SO) award-winning Primary Schools Tour, which goes on the road this February for the rest of the academic year with the newly created show, Vikings! The Quest for the Dragon’s Treasure, has been re-imagined and expanded to make it even more accessible and adaptable for all schools in Scotland to take part.
Vikings!, which delivers aspects of A Curriculum for Excellence, is designed for primary 5, 6 and 7 pupils, and schools can now engage with the production as a digital only learning and teaching experience, using online resources currently available on SO’s website, to prepare children for all aspects of presenting a performance to an audience.
For schools that are already signed up for the hybrid version, the same high quality teaching resources that teach the music and movement, as well as offering a range of subject related activities that can enrich the cross curricular learning experience, are used to prepare the pupils to enjoy a day-long workshop with SO’s team of highly experienced arts education animateurs and performers. On the morning of the workshop, they and the pupils spend just four hours together, rehearsing then performing an all-singing, all-dancing 30-minute show in their school for classmates, friends and family, complete with costumes and props, backed by a fully orchestrated soundtrack.
By providing these two complementary opportunities for pupils to engage in outstanding musical experiences, SO is cognisant of the crucial need to support music teaching in Scottish schools. As the research carried out by The Royal Conservatoire of Scotland into music education in Scotland between 2018 and 2019 shows, along with the report by the Music Education Partnership Group (MEPG) published in February 2019, there has been a decline in the number of specialist music teachers in schools, because of a perceived devaluation of music compared to other subjects.
SO’s Director of Outreach and Education Jane Davidson MBE said “In 2024 – the year of the Chinese Dragon – Scottish Opera Education is thrilled to welcome another magical flying beast into its repertoire. A tale inspired by Norse legends, our dragon is more closely related to the creatures who feature in Cressida Cowell’s ‘How to Train Your Dragon’ books, or the ones created by JK Rowling and J.R.R. Tolkien. We hope that pupils in primary schools across Scotland will delight in this original story, where the Vikings learn that not all treasure consists of gold and jewels, and that living in harmony with the land and the seasons is a lesson they’d be silly to ignore!”
Vikings! forms part of a suite of SO’s digital offerings for schools, which includes The Curse of MacCabbra Opera House, featuring music from composer Alan Penman and lyrics from writer and director Johnny McKnight.
From 5th February to 7th July, the fully booked, in-person Vikings! tour will be visiting schools across Scotland.
Find out more about Vikings! and Scottish Opera’s other Primary Schools productions at www.scottishopera.org.uk/join-in/opera-for-schools/
Irene Brown
Radio Summerhall Arts 