COOPERSTOWN, N.Y. - The Glimmerglass Festival, with cooperation from The Cooperstown Art Association, will celebrate National Opera Week locally with OPERA-tion Arts, a free education initiative culminating in an opera-inspired art show November 4 through 11.
Glimmerglass staff members joined second grade classes at Cherry Valley-Springfield, Cooperstown, Milford and Richfield Springs central schools to offer a multi-media presentation on opera. The students illustrated their impressions of opera on 8" squares of cardstock, which will be displayed in The Cooperstown Art Association's Gallery C at 22 Main Street in Cooperstown.

Glimmerglass and The Cooperstown Art Association will open the exhibit of student artwork with a free reception on Friday, November 4, from 6 to 8 p.m. 2011 Young Artist Meredith Lustig will perform accompanied by SUNY Oneonta's Timothy Newton at 7 p.m., offering a brief introduction to opera and some of Glimmerglass's 2012 offerings.

Organized by OPERA America, the national service organization for opera, with the support of the National Endowment for the Arts, National Opera Week is meant to recognize the vitality of opera in America. National Opera Week will be celebrated from coast to coast as opera companies offer a range of free public programs that demonstrate the accessibility of the art form. Information on OPERA-tion Arts may be found at www.glimmerglass.org or by calling (607) 547-2255.

For more information about National Opera Week, which runs October 28 through November 6, visit www.operaamerica.org/now. Follow the National Opera Week conversation on Twitter with #operaweek.