Genre
Performances for Young Audiences
Enjoy an insider’s look at our companies as they prepare onstage for performance.
His products changed the world and put instant connection at our fingertips. But behind tech mogul Steve Jobs was a life shaped by triumphs, trials, and contradictions. Step into the orbit of the Apple co-founder who rose from garage genius to tech titan. With a Grammy®–winning score by Kennedy Center Composer-in-Residence emeritus Mason Bates and libretto by Pulitzer Prize–winning librettist Mark Campbell, The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs offers an operatic journey through the interior workings and spiritual journey of an innovator. Bates merges an electronic soundscape with Campbell’s classical lyricism to immerse audiences in the world of Silicon Valley in the 1980s. Across his life, Jobs played husband, father, spiritual seeker, and industry leader. He was also protagonist and antagonist, cycling between destruction and redemption, disillusion and reality. As Jobs comes face-to-face with his mortality, audiences will see that some things can’t be programmed—including humanity.
Music by Mason Bates. Libretto by Mark Campbell. In English with Projected English Titles. Composed 2017. 2019 Grammy Award ® for Best Opera Recording. This production of The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs is jointly owned by The Atlanta Opera, Austin Opera, Lyric Opera of Kansas City, Utah Symphony & Opera, and Calgary Opera Association.
April 30, 2025
Opera House, recommended for grades 9-12
Estimated duration is approximately three hours with an intermission.
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Modern opera can be loud, audacious, uncomfortable, uncharted, and thoroughly confusing. But it can also be gorgeous, expressive, intimate, and wonderfully moving. It’s beautiful, cacophonous, complicated noise, and it’s ours to listen to and reckon with in real time.
The history, people, and works behind a thoroughly complex yet totally exhilarating art form
In this entertaining and educational four-part series we introduce the weird and wonderful world of opera - its history, music, styles, genres, and people. Host Peter Michael Marino provides a comprehensive exploration of the world of opera that results in a greater understanding and appreciation of the art form.
Get out your opera glasses and prepare to take a look at the history and evolution of an art form over four hundred years old. Learn how singers train and condition their voices, become familiar with some of the stage’s most tragic love affairs, and discover how theatre and music combined can tell epic stories in unforgettable ways.
Unfortunately, a lot of people think they don’t, and most of them have never seen one. In this audio story, opera fan Eleni and opera skeptic Samantha discuss how their experiences with opera as children influenced their opinions of the art form as adults.
Lewis and Clark explored the American West; Japanese artists Maywa Denki invent performance art "products." These resources can help you discover the process of discovering.
The amazing sound system in the human brain helps explain why people everywhere fill their lives with music.
Join Kennedy Center composer-in-residence Mason Bates on an exploration of the process of Curating the Concert Experience. In this mini mini-series, Mason takes us on a journey in three parts—Programming, Production, and Platform—sharing his unique perspective and insights.
Professional development for educators. Summer intensives for young artists. Teaching artist guided activities. Performances for young audiences. Classroom lesson plans. Arts-focused digital media.
Kennedy Center Education offers a wide array of resources and experiences that inspire, excite, and empower students and young artists, plus the tools and connections to help educators incorporate the arts into classrooms of all types.
Our current teaching and learning priorities include:
A robust collection of articles, videos, and podcasts that allow students of all ages to explore and learn about the arts online.
In-person and virtual performances, along with supporting educational content to help guide learning.
Current approaches to arts integration in the classroom, inclusion, rigor, and adopting an arts integration approach at the school and district level.
An asynchronous online course that invites educators and administrators to think about our students’ disabilities as social and cultural identities that enrich our classrooms and communities.
Generous support for educational programs at the Kennedy Center is provided by the U.S. Department of Education.
Gifts and grants to educational programs at the Kennedy Center are provided by The Paul M. Angell Family Foundation; Bank of America; Capital One; The Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation; Carnegie Corporation of New York; The Ednah Root Foundation; Harman Family Foundation; William R. Kenan, Jr. Charitable Trust; the Kimsey Endowment; The Kiplinger Foundation; Laird Norton Family Foundation; Lois and Richard England Family Foundation; Dr. Gary Mather and Ms. Christina Co Mather; The Markow Totevy Foundation; Dr. Gerald and Paula McNichols Foundation; The Morningstar Foundation; Myra and Leura Younker Endowment Fund; The Irene Pollin Audience Development and Community Engagement Initiatives;
Prince Charitable Trusts; Dr. Deborah Rose and Dr. Jan A. J. Stolwijk; Rosemary Kennedy Education Fund; The Embassy of the United Arab Emirates; The Victory Foundation; The Volgenau Foundation; Volkswagen Group of America; Jackie Washington; GRoW @ Annenberg and Gregory Annenberg Weingarten and Family; Wells Fargo; and generous contributors to the Abe Fortas Memorial Fund and by a major gift to the fund from the late Carolyn E. Agger, widow of Abe Fortas. Additional support is provided by the National Committee for the Performing Arts..
The content of these programs may have been developed under a grant from the U.S. Department of Education but does not necessarily represent the policy of the U.S. Department of Education. You should not assume endorsement by the federal government.
