So This Is Opera Testimonials

"Ms. Lewis has an amazing talent with children!"

"Wonderful and engaging. She had the students spellbound. Such an amazing job. The children learned their songs so quickly - I was shocked. :-) She was very good also with any discipline issues, provided clear instructions, etc."

"It is an honor to work with Yvette Lewis. She is always a pleasure to work with."

"As the school's music teacher, I was greatly appreciative of this residency. Mrs. Lewis provided substantial pre and post activities as well as information to prepare the students. What a wonderful experience from beginning to end! Mrs. Lewis showed a superior understanding of young children and her artistry."

"Ms. Lewis did a fantastic job introducing her love and talent for opera. She was personable, on their level, and managed their attention excellently. What a delight to see students exposed to the richness of opera by such a talented instructor!"

"Awesome. Great crowd control. The best yet."

"She was wonderful w/the children - clear instructions, happy group participation, etc!"

"Thank you for the excellent exit idea for the children."

"Just excellent! The hour flew by. Students loved it too!"

"Super Wonderful."

"Great exit strategy."

"I was very impressed. I would have stayed all day every day. Excellent!"

Olds Elementary -- February, 2006

"What an extraordinary performance you gave at our school on Jan. 13. We have never received such consistent high evaluations from our staff before after attending a performance. The students were enthralled and certainly left the cafeteria knowing a lot about opera, as we all did! . . .."

Ms. Yvette,

Thank you so much for your fantastic energy. We have learned so much. Please come back and visit us.

May God Bless You,

Sandy Plains Elementary Students -- October 14, 1999

Dear Ms. Lewis:

Let me begin by sharing again, what a pleasure it was to have you perform at Dogwood Hill School. The children were obviously enthralled and the feedback from the teachers was outstanding. It was really a pleasure to have you visit for the afternoon, and I hope the rest of your performances this week have been as rewarding.

Enclosed, please find the newspaper article we discussed. The Record is the main paper for Bergen County, New Jersey and has received national recognition. Mr. Gavin did a very nice job with the article.

Thanks again. I hope to have you back at our school sometime in the future.

Sincerely

Glenn
Principal, Dogwood Hill School -- March 10, 2000

To Mrs. Lewis,

What a superb performance you treated our children and faculty to! The teachers cannot say enough on your handling and control of the students. The children are talking about your beautiful voice and the fun they had singing opera!

You are a most remarkable performer. You brought a superior high-caliber performance to our school. "Fabulous" and "Incredible" are the adjectives being used to describe you!

We can't wait to have you back for "This is Opera II"!

Thank you so much.

Respectfully,

Diana
Elementary School Teacher -- October 29, 2000

Dear Yvette Lewis:

Thank you so much for coming to our school and performing for our children! Everyone was so impressed and thoroughly entertained. You can see yourself from the enclosed teacher comments!

The second graders and teachers really appreciated their workshops, and the extra time you spent teaching them to sing in German! They especially liked seeing the dragon in the video after hearing the story of "The Magic Flute".

It was a delight to work with you as a visiting artist. Thank you for your easy going manner, and for your incredible dismissal method! You really should think of copyrighting that!

We wish you well, and hope to have you come back to Stough in the future!

Fondly,

Julie
Cultural Arts Representative, Stough Elementary -- May 4, 2000

Dear Yvette,

What an extraordinary performance you gave at our school on Jan. 13. We have never received such consistent high evaluations from our staff before after attending a performance. The students were enthralled and certainly left the cafeteria knowing a lot about opera, as we all did!

I'm sorry I didn't have a chance to thank you personally - I had to conduct a very quiet class (thanks to you) back to the art room.

I mailed the evaluation forms to United Arts on Jan 14 so they should be sending your fee immediately.

Again it was wonderful, and I'd like to talk to you about a possible residency some time.

Thanks so much!

Ann
Farmington Woods; Cary, NC -- January 23, 2000

Dear Ms. Lewis,

What a delight to see your presentation. Every adult in the room was impressed by your ability to hold the attention and garner the participation of the students. Mr. Gantz said the children are "starving for (experiences) from the other side." The way they ate it up, I would whole-heartedly agree with him.

Enclosed you will find the article, as I promised. I was happily surprised to see the editors moved us from the front page of the local section to the front page of the paper based on the strength of the artwork. Rather that cut it out, I thought you might like to see the story as it played in the paper.

I'm always excited to see the positive but not necessarily hard hitting news stories brought out front. Your program and the fact that local people brought it to some of the most underexposed children in the county certainly deserve to get people's attention.

Thank you for giving me your time between sessions. I do realize that was a very hectic morning for you. Good luck.

Sincerely,

Kate
York Daily Record -- February 24, 2000