As part of the Opera in the Schools Outreach Project, Long Leaf Opera commissioned Caroline Mallonée to create a new opera for the students at Estes Hills Elementary School in Chapel Hill, NC.  Scored for five lead roles (two children and three adults), chorus, piano and Orff instruments, the production included over 100 fourth and fifth graders.   Nora the Nonapus was premiered in June 2007 on the Long Leaf Opera Festival. 

    The opera is based on a children’s book written by Zoe Gan, Vaishnavi Krishnan, Alison Smith and Susan Cavender who were fifth-grade students at Estes Hills Elementary School when they wrote the book.  The book was chosen as the winner of the Kids Are Authors Award and was published by Scholastic, Inc.  The libretto was adapted from the book by the composer.                                                    To watch scenes from the opera, click here.

nora the nonapus (2007):

A Children’s opera in one act

TWELVE OPPOSITES for treble choir (2009)

CAROLINE MALLONée:

Teaching and School residencies

To celebrate Richard Wilbur’s 90th birthday, Monadnock Music commissioned Mallonée and five others to set his poetry to music.  Mallonée’s humorous piece, Twelve Opposites, was premiered in Peterborough, NH in July with Janna Baty, soprano.  It was performed in Boston’s Jordan Hall in February, 2010 by the PALS Children’s Chorus. 

                                                                    To listen to the piece, click here. 

    Caroline Mallonée is a dedicated teacher. She is the director of The Walden School Creative Musicians Retreat, a week-long festival for composers and improvisers.  She has been on the faculty of The Walden School Young Musicians Program since 1998.  Walden is a summer residential program on the campus of The Dublin School in New Hampshire that offers classes in composition and musicianship for students 9-18.     

    In addition to her work with younger students, Mallonée has taught Harmony, Counterpoint, Musicianship, Music Theory and Composition at New York University, William Paterson University and California State University at Long Beach.

PETERBOROUGH PROJECT (2007)

To celebrate the MacDowell Colony’s Centennial, Mallonée collaborated with filmmaker Sandro del Rosario and students in Peterborough, New Hampshire to create The Way Home, a collection of short animated films.  Over the course of two months, Mallonée and del Rosario worked with 4th grade and 7th grade students at The Well School and juniors and seniors at Conval High School to create the visuals and sound for the project, which was premiered at the Peterborough Players Theater in May 2007.