Every summer, Cincinnati Opera welcomes a flood of interns to support their summer season. This gives way to an incredible opportunity for students of varying fields of study to gain real world experience in a professional arts setting. These internships range from directing and lighting all the way to philanthropy and educational outreach. I, myself, had the incredible chance to be this year's communications intern for the summer festival series and wanted to share the experience of a few other interns!

Andrea Saavedra Ferreira

**Community Engagement and Education intern**

Rising Junior at Northern Kentucky University with a major in Psychological Science and a minor in Spanish.

“As the community engagement and education intern, I have gotten the opportunity to connect with different local non-profits, work with youth and elderly, produce community-wide programs, create interactive activities and crafts for youth educational programs, and publish an article and a program for a community event. My favorite memory was finding out my sister and I were in Cincinnati Opera's Instagram and Facebook for student tickets ads based on a 2023 photo of my family attending The Barber of Seville! After graduating from Northern Kentucky University, my goal is to go to graduate school for school psychology in Chicago and implement the opera's education programs into school's curriculum as well as kickstarting collaborations with the arts organizations for music/art therapy sessions for special needs and sensory-friendly students!”

Callie Hartel

Costume Intern

Summer 2024 graduate from Colorado State University in Apparel Design.

“Through this internship, I have assisted the costume department with multiple tasks. I organized costumes, took notes during fittings, made paperwork and files for organization, and attended production meetings. I have been able to work closely with many different staff members to help and learn about the costume department. My favorite memory from this season has been all the orchestra dress rehearsals. These nights were the first times I was able to see the show all put together with all the costumes out on stage. It was my favorite night for every show and I hope to become a designer in the future. I am open to continuing in either the costume industry or the fashion industry with my main goal to act as a designer.”

Andrea Saavedra Ferreira

Callie Hartel

Johnny ...