A first-of-its-kind Seattle Opera production will feature young local singers. The official announcement:

West Seattle youth (L-R above) Wilder Cufley, Zane Cufley, Sarah Rosoff and Monique Allen are have been cast in Seattle Opera’s upcoming production of Our Earth and are pictured here with the four principal soloists (L-R) Thomas Thompson, Rachel DeShon, Sonia Perez, and John Coons.

Our Earth is Seattle Opera’s first-ever three-part opera for young audiences. The first performance in the series, Heron and the Salmon Girl, will premiere on Sunday, February 10, at Town Hall at 2 pm. Seattle composer Eric Banks has written three brief operas, with libretti by Irene Keliher, all set in the Pacific Northwest. They tell the story of local animals and people—including people who can transform into salmon!—and an ecosystem in danger. The Opera soloists play the human and animal characters and the Youth Chorus represents the waves of the Puget Sound. Seattle Youth Symphony Orchestra (which organized last weekend’s Southwest Seattle Super String Saturday at Chief Sealth International High School) performs the score:

Seattle Opera also partnered with The Nature Conservancy to inform the plot and characters – which include a hungry orca, a helpful heron, a grumpy fisherman, and a girl whose brother is in trouble in the big city. They all set off to find out what happened when the salmon fail to return to sea one spring. Later on in the trilogy, the characters continue their quest into a river valley and all the way up into the watershed, atop a forested mountain. Find information about the premieres of the second and third Our Earth opera here.

Next Sunday’s performance will also feature Seattle Youth Symphony performing with former Seattle Opera Young Artist Adina Aaron singing Wagner’s Wesendonck Lieder and Siegfried Idyll. Tickets are $10 for youth under 18 and seniors, $20 General Admission. To purchase tickets, please visit www.SeattleOpera.org/OurEarth or call 206.389.7676 or 800.426.1619.