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Education and Community Programs


More than drama and music, opera is a unique art form that encompasses a wide variety of skills and arts. Opera can serve as a unique gateway to explore many subjects, including history, language, and movement.

Whether you're an educator or community program administrator, Opera Colorado's Education department has a variety of programs that will entertain and educate your audience, regardless of their age.

Our programs support Colorado Model Content Standards. We also provide teaching materials for our programs to help you offer a fulfilling educational experience for your class.

Please take a moment to explore our education programs.




Leigh HolmanLeigh Holman, Director of Education and Community Programming
Ms. Holman has extensive experience in the performing arts and music, specializing in opera/voice performance and education. As stage director and voice teacher, she coordinated the Voice and Opera areas at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. During her time there, she also founded the UALR Opera Theatre. Before coming to Opera Colorado, she served as stage director and adjunct teacher at the University of Colorado College of Music. She holds a Doctorate of Musical Arts Degree from the University of Colorado in Voice Performance and Pedagogy and a Master's in Opera Performance from the Eastman School of Music. She has more than 16 years of academic and private vocal teaching experience and has been both a Stage Director and Music Director for more than 25 productions of opera and musical theater at various universities and professional companies—most recently director of Il Barbiere di Siviglia at Opera Fort Collins. A high lyric mezzo soprano, Leigh is a recitalist and opera/musical theatre singer. She has performed with the Resident Artists of Portland Opera, Nashville Opera Company, National Opera Company, Colorado Light Opera (formerly CU Opera in the Summer) and Opera Theatre of Rochester, among others. Her most influential teachers were the late Beverley Peck Johnson and Marilyn Jewett.

Cherity KoepkeCherity Koepke, Manager of Education and Community Programming
Ms. Koepke was drawn to music at an early age. A lyric mezzo-soprano, she began singing at the age of 15 and has performed such roles as Guinevere (Camelot), Maria (The Sound of Music), Adelaide (Guys & Dolls), Eponine (Les Misérables) and Katherine (Taming of the Shrew). She attended and the University of New Mexico, where she earned her degree in Child Psychology. Koepke also studied theater, focusing on directing, improvisation and musical performance. She has directed numerous productions, including Inherit the Wind, My Fair Lady and Romeo and Juliet. In 2001, Koepke began working as a behavior specialist with the Albuquerque Public School System. In 2002, she worked as a volunteer for Santa Fe Opera's student-produced opera project. One year later, Koepke was hired by the Santa Fe Opera as an artist-in-residence and served as Director, Librettist and Vocal Coach, guiding students as they created, produced and performed their own original opera. During the 2006 and 2007 seasons, Koepke performed with the Santa Fe Opera at the National Hispanic Cultural Center’s Disney Theater in Albuquerque. She has directed numerous student chorus programs, and in 2006, led a performance for New Mexico’s Governor, Bill Richardson. Koepke came to Opera Colorado in 2007, where she works in education and community programs. She continues to sing and direct in the Denver area.