TPAC education programs bring exciting arts opportunities and learning to a diverse audience, from pre-school to adult.
TPAC is a nonprofit organization. Our mission is to lead with excellence in the performing arts and arts education, creating meaningful and relevant experiences to enrich lives, strengthen communities, and support economic vitality.
TPAC’s Season for Young People presents an annual season of outstanding professional performances of theater, dance and music to school groups to complement curriculum objectives with a rich variety of artistic and cultural expression. Teachers receive guidebooks with lesson plans and other resources for use in the classroom. Post-show discussions with artists, teacher workshops, and in-school visits also are available. Ticket discounts and travel grants make the program accessible to all students and school systems.
Disney Musicals in Schools is an extracurricular program that develops sustainable theater programs and enhances classroom learning in Metro Nashville elementary and middle schools. At no cost to them, participating schools receive a performance license for the Disney KIDS or Disney JR. musical of their choice, along with resources and support from TPAC staff and professional teaching artists. Program goals include developing appreciation for musical theatre as a collaborative art, connecting to curriculum standards, and increasing school pride among students, families, faculty, staff, and community partners. After a successful pilot in Nashville, 2011-12, Disney Theatrical Group expanded the program to school systems nationwide.
InsideOut is for adults who want to grow in their knowledge and enjoyment of the performing arts. InsideOut events come in many shapes and sizes and in many different places both inside and out of TPAC’s downtown theaters. The TPAC Education program offers a series of lunch seminars, performance excerpts, discussions, workshops, and sneak previews behind the scenes.
Wolf Trap Early Learning Through the Arts is a nationally affiliated program that utilizes the disciplines of music, dance, theatre, and puppetry as powerful tools for educating pre-school children. Professional performing artists partner with early childhood educators and create activities that target curriculum and developmental goals for 3- to 5-year-olds, including emerging literacy skills, social interaction and self-expression. Wolf Trap residencies and workshops provide training for teachers in arts-based instruction techniques they can employ in their classrooms.
Spotlight Awards, or the Nashville High School Musical Theatre Awards (NHSMTA), are presented in partnership with Lipscomb University’s George Shinn College of Entertainment & the Arts to encourage recognize excellence in high school theatre artists in Middle Tennessee. Each year, about 30 applying high school musicals are evaluated by a diverse panel of adjudicators. In May, the program culminates with workshops taught by industry professionals and the Spotlight Awards ceremony at TPAC. At the ceremony, the Top 10 contenders for “Outstanding Musical” perform and honors are presented in a variety of categories, including “Outstanding Actor” and “Outstanding Actress.” The winners in those two categories receive scholarships and participate nationally at The Jimmy Awards in New York.
