Calling All Young Writers: Your Story Could Be the Next Pocket Opera!

The Pocket Opera Project (POP) is transforming student stories of the Southern Tier into masterful mini-operas—in collaboration with local composers! POP, a collaboration between Binghamton University and the Tri-Cities Opera, is looking for local stories, old and new, to be told with distinct new voices.

Select students enrolled in grades 4 thru 8 will have their “Stories of the Southern Tier” transformed into mini-operas. 

Want to be one of them? Here's what to do:

1. Write a brand-new locally-based story set OR retell an old local story in your own way.
2. Include elements of local history, landmarks, or other unique aspects of the Southern Tier.
3. Email your story to pop@tricitiesopera.org by December 1st, with “Short Story Submission - [Last Name, First Name]” as the subject. In the email message, include contact information (name and phone number) of a parent or legal guardian and your preference of local business for the gift prize.

WHAT IS THE PRIZE?
If selected, you will receive a $100 gift card to a local business and your story will be turned into a “pocket opera” by Binghamton University composers and performed by Tri-Cities Opera in Fall 2024.

Writing Prompts:

1. This history of the Southern Tier is one that has been shaped by water (Binghamton is at the confluence of the Chenango and Susquehanna rivers, the Chemung and Chenango canals connect the Erie Canal with Elmira). From agriculture, to floods, to transportation, water has shaped the life of its residents for generations. Tell us a story about people whose lives have been affected by our mighty rivers.
2. The Southern Tier is home to the antique carousel capital of the world. Tell us a story about the carousels; either how they have been a part of your life, or how they play into local history.
3. The Southern Tier has historically been a hub of industry and is the birthplace of IBM, Corning Glass, flight simulation, and many other innovations. Tell us a story about the people who were a part of
   these industries and used their imagination to create new ideas and businesses that still impact us today.
4. Long before Western peoples came to New York, the Southern Tier was home to many Native American communities including the Iroquois and Seneca Nations (Tri-Cities Opera is built on unceded lands of the Onondaga Nation, part of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy). Tell us a story about them.
5. Choose a locally connected topic that you are interested in and tell a story about it.

Writing Tips:

• Your story must have a beginning, middle, and end, and should be no longer than 10 minutes when you read it out loud. (Practice reading it aloud.)
• Your story must have at least 2 characters and these characters must need something (money, love, forgiveness) from each other. Be specific. Your story can have no more than 4 characters.
• There needs to be at least ONE big theatrical moment. What does this mean to you? What would you love to see on stage? Use your imagination!

By submitting materials to the Pocket Opera Project, Student Authors authorize Tri-Cities Opera Company, Inc. and Binghamton University to create derivative works from the submission material. While the original submission will remain the intellectual property of the Student Author, any works derived from the submission will be the property of Tri-Cities Opera Company, Inc. and the Creator(s) Of the Derivative Work (CODW). The Student author's submission and any derivative works may be published and shared in their entirety in perpetuity by Tri-Cities Opera Company, Inc., Binghamton University, CODW, and their successors without compensation to the Student Author. Student Author will be credited as follows: "Original story by (student author's first and last name)."

For more information visit the Tri-Cities Opera website.

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