- Phone:
- (812) 856-7112
- Email:
- kcarball@iu.edu
- Campus:
- IU Bloomington
The IU faculty tour of rural Indiana introduced IU Bloomington faculty to rural Indiana, expanding their capacity to collaborate with the state through research, service, creative activity, and student engagement. Areas of focus included arts and culture, community resilience, education, health, housing, and leadership and innovation. The 2025 tour took place August 12 to August 14, 2025, and was an approximately 300-mile bus tour of places in rural Indiana.
Project abstract
Reimagining Opera for Kids (ROK) is a non-profit community arts and education organization based in Bloomington, IN. Their goals are to introduce children to opera through engaging first experiences, and to give developing professional musicians the opportunity to hone their performance skills. Led by Jacobs School of Music faculty coach Kimberly Carballo, ROK is a community partner in service-learning for Indiana University students, as well as a home performing troupe for community singers and instrumentalists of all ages.
In 2019, ROK began a new partnership with the Metropolitan Opera to bring the Met’s Live in HD broadcasts to area schools. Through this program, teachers are provided with curricular materials and resources, and their students are invited to the Met’s performances and other “Day Out” activities on the day of the live broadcasts.
Since 2008, ROK has been enthusiastically received in many of the area elementary, middle, and high schools, as well as public libraries, home-school groups, hospitals, and community centers. The artists donate their preparation and performance time, and ROK provides free performances and curriculum guides to K-12 students.
Community partners
Schools, libraries, and community centers throughout south-central Indiana
Campus partners
- Jacobs School of Music
Counties involved
Brown, Bartholomew, Daviess, Greene, Lawrence, Monroe, Morgan, Owen