This expedition had its origin in the spring of 2004, when juniors in the Codman Humanities 11 class were studying 20th Century US history and literature.  Based on this learning, students wrote, directed, produced, and performed a multi-genre performance piece based on the tragic death of Amadou Diallo in NYC.  Building on this experience second hip hop opera focused on the theme of segregation and schooling in the US.  The third hip hop opera examined the American labor movement.

Each week students at our school engage in all-day Friday learning expeditions; the Hip Hop Opera Expedition uses a series of these Fridays, along with regular class time, to provide intensive skill-based workshops in play-writing and contemporary operatic writing through two powerful community partnerships.  The partnerships began with the Boston Modern Orchestra Project (www.bmop.org) which helped students write and record an opera about the life of Amadou Diallo.  Building on this partnership, a professional opera composer, Lou Bunk, works with  students to help write aspects of a full opera performance.

Students create a performance piece using a series of thematically linked 'anchor stories'. These stories are rooted in African American experiences of segregation, desegregation, and continued segregation in post-Civil War America.  The class is broken into 3 groups, each of which is led by a student director who will take on a significant leadership role throughout the process.  Each group writes a performance scene based on an anchor story.  These scenes involve a combination of dialogue and singing.  Students create the music for
these scenes using, among other things, the computer program Reason. The scenes are interwoven with a multi-genre narration that provides historical background.  The final performance is free and open to the public and is held at a prominent community-based location. 

The expedition is documented in a data DVD of materials used to develop and produce the opera, such as a complete script, sound cues, projected graphics and production stills.  A second DVD presents the opera in performance.

We present here in PDF format the contents of the data DVD for two operas:

• Opening the Eyes of Color-Blind America: A Hip Hop Chronicle of Schools, Courts and Equality in the Land of the Free
  (Written and produced by the Class of 2007.  Presented June 4, 2006.  Includes program notes, script, sound cues and PowerPoint slides.)
• In Chains, We Lay this Rose: A Hip Hop Chronicle of Race, Class, and Prisons in the American Labor Movement
  (Written and produced by the Class of 2008. Presented June 10, 2007.  Includes program information, script, character backgrounds, scene structure and cast, sound cues, and PowerPoint slides.)