An Education Exclusive
Hannah Smith - Education Officer
Hannah Smith dismisses the myth that you should never work with kids by struggling to think of anything she doesn’t enjoy about her job!
What is your role at Opera North?
My role has recently changed to Education Officer which means I am able to do more project management. I am now responsible for some of the core projects in the department, including Operations and Opera 1, as well as a teacher/artist training programme we run with Yorkshire Music Leader, a support service for the professional development of UK music leaders.
How long have you been working here?
I have worked at Opera North for 2 years almost to the day. I started working in the General Directors office as an admin assistant, but moved to the Education department and have been here for 1 year and 2 months.
What does the education department do?
The education department is highly respected nationally for the work we undertake. We help young people and adults alike to engage with opera as an art form by giving them an opportunity to be creative and by helping them make song and music relevant to them.
How did you get involved in Education?
I studied Music at Leeds University and in my final year I did my dissertation on the use of music in the community. I came to Opera North’s education department for some hands on experience and from then I knew that was the field I wanted to get involved in.
We often see you bringing interesting jangling musical instruments through the office, where are you taking them?
Usually to Little Movers which is a group we do with Yorkshire Dance for 0-4 year olds, and their parents/carers. The group is taken by myself and a dancer and involves dancing, singing and using instruments. So the jangling instruments are for the kids to play with. It’s a group that focuses on hard to reach communities and its great fun.
What is your day to day routine?
It depends on whether we are doing a project – I can either be in the office planning for the project or we will be out watching projects in schools.
What do you enjoy most about your job?
My job is very rewarding and encouraging, especially when working with children who have no access to the arts. I particularly enjoy the Little Movers group and taking young people to the theatre and seeing their reaction to a performance, especially if it’s their first time. The reaction of the other audience members when they see a big group of children there is also great.
What do you enjoy least?
After much thought…
I enjoy most aspects of working in the education department, but if I had to pick one thing it would probably be doing big mailings out to schools as it takes a lot of time and I always end up with loads of paper cuts.
Is there anything that gets you though the day? Tea/coffee/chocolate?
All of the above, at least 5 cups of tea a day and regular visits to the treat table in the middle of the office. We work on a very sociable floor.
The Education department has recently won some important grants, can you tell us a bit more about them?
We have won three grants, one for Sing Up Bridlington! which is one of 19 projects nationwide to benefit from this central government funding, one from the Holbeck Charitable Trust for work with 18-30yr old past offenders and the last from the National Foundation for Youth Music for a year-long project to create a choir in the inner-city community of Little London, Leeds, this is a community where we have been in residence for the past two years. These are all really exciting because it is new work that we have never done before.
Do you enjoy working with Children?
Yes I do, I originally wanted to be a teacher, however this job is perfect because I get to go into schools regularly and not have the stress of being a teacher.
What has been your favourite project?
‘The Great Northern Hippo’ at Little London Community Primary School, the whole school performed an opera about a hippo bone that was allegedly discovered in Leeds, each pupil had their own individual part, from music, props and animation.
The project I am most looking forward to is ‘Get Creative’ which is a week long project in July, working with young people with learning disabilities. The project will run everyday in the Howard Assembly Room with a dancer, from Northern Ballet, and a composer and designer employed by Opera North and will involve a variety of creative activities tailored for all abilities.
