Opera: the last bastion of the large woman in the Viking helmet. Large concert halls, enormous budgets, home to an audience of ever graying hair, and written by dead, white, European men: what relevance could it possibly have now?

WotOpera, the educational arm of Opera Australia, is setting out to change these opinions. WotOpera brings the creative process to the students, as in four days over four weeks a group of 20 students write, cast, and perform their very own opera, from scratch.

At the Junction 2010 conference I was lucky enough to attend a panel discussion named WotOpera! Wot? where I was infected by the enthusiasm and heart that this project has. After the panel I had the incredible opportunity to sit down with Project Manager Murray Dahm to talk about the program, its goals, and the works it has produced: everything from the singing cape of Satan to the split-personality starfish Phillipe.

Established with a pilot program in West Sydney in 2008, WotOpera has now worked with schools towns including Rockhampton, Launceston, and Bendigo. In each city four schools are involved, and all are brought together for a final performance in a professional theatre, with professional sound and lighting. At the panel Principle Sponsor Graeme Wood, of wotif.com, says he supports the program for “many reasons at many levels. One of the goals is satisfaction,” and he gets an “enormous thrill” from seeing the students understanding and being involved in the…