Our Holland Community Opera Fellowship (HCOF) is committed to being a creative and artistic resource to our community. Usually this takes many forms and Opera Omaha's HCOF Fellows (Gwenna, Jared, Kate, and Kaitlin) lead creative workshops and programming for all ages. Since we can’t be in the community in person, we’ve adapted and created a few of our #HCOFCreativityPrompts for your use at home. Each weekday we’ll post a different prompt on our blog and share on our social media platforms. These activities can be done alone or with others. Creativity is not just for kids, and these prompts are written for a wide variety of audiences so feel free to modify as needed!

Today's Creativity Prompt

Color Symphony

Description
Explore listening to music while imagining what colors or images come to mind. Have fun and allow your creative mind to relax and unfold.

Approximate duration
10 minutes

Materials
Access to YouTube
Colored pencils, markers, etc. (optional)

Instructions
Find a quiet place inside or outside. Close your eyes and listen to the first five minutes of Arthur Bliss’s A Colour Symphony (1932).

• As you listen, pay attention to any colors, shapes, or things that you imagine. You might imagine a swirl of different colors that may change, or stay the same, as the music plays. You might imagine a specific scene, like a calm setting with blue skies and clouds going by.
• For example, in listening to the first part I see a lilac flower that grows and blooms - keeping a lilac color at the base of the petals, but the tip of the petals grows into a warm, sunset red color. In the background I see hazel colored swirls moving around the flower as it blooms.
• Whatever you imagine, embrace it and say yes to all creative thought. No need to rationalize any thoughts that arise. If an ice cream cone appears – embrace it (YUM)!

At the end of the piece, reflect on all the colors and various things you saw while listening to A Colour Symphony. You are invited to draw or write down anything that came to mind as you were listening.

Optional Add-ons
Listen to the entire Symphony and see what other colors come to your mind’s eye. Then compare with Bliss’s titles for each movement, each named for a specific color.

Sharing Suggestions
Send the link to a family member or friend to also enjoy the music! If you were inspired to create something inspired by this piece, share it with us! We would love to see it! Comment on this activity’s Facebook post or tag @OperaOmaha in an Instagram Story with #hcofcreativityprompts.

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