This hour: kids sing opera, they talk about life on a remote island, and they opine about running the world.

Opera Underage
by Alix Blair (The Salt Institute for Documentary Studies, 2009)
Stereotypes about opera abound. And no one knows this better than the people who love it, sing it, and then have to defend it to their peers. Especially, if their peers are in eighth grade. Believe it or not, there are young adults, very young adults, who love opera. And sing it. Really, really well.

My Life So Far
by Theresa Goff, Lindsey Michael, and Neil Sandell (Global Perspectives, CBC, 2009)
To an adult, life on a secluded island might sound peaceful and romantic – but if you’re young and curious about the wider world, it might just sound narrow and isolated. The kids of Alert Bay, a town of about 1300 people on a remote island off the west coast of Canada, know intimately the ups and downs of their particular geography. Intrigued, producers from the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation gave five young people tape recorders and asked them to tell the story of where they live.

Children's America (excerpt)
by Alessandro Bosetti (WDR, 2009)
So far we’ve heard kids who sing opera and kids who live on a remote island. Why stop there? Why not kids running the world? Alessandro Bosetti asked a number of children in a number of ways a number of questions, among them, what would you do if you were in charge and what would it be like to live in a country run entirely by children? Then, in his usual style, he turned their voices into music.

Featured Music:

Come March, Childish Music (Staubgold Germany, 2005)
Mountains, "Interlude," Sewn (Apestaartje, 2006)
Tape, "Summa," Opera (Hapna, 2008)
Tape, "Fire Made of Bones," Opera (Hapna, 2008)