For Educators
At FIM, it’s not enough just to create and program excellent performances. We want to inspire the next generation of artists, performers, and lovers of the arts. We know you know that the arts are an important part of nurturing the whole student. They help hone critical thinking skills, sharpen social skills, and increase a student’s sense of self and cultural awareness. Every encounter with the arts has the possibility to inspire new ways of thinking, seeing, and being. And we think those are rights every student should enjoy.
That’s why we provide free schooltime performances for educators, and we keep resources on hand to assist with transportation or any other obstacles that may prevent your classroom from coming. Please take a look at some of our programs and let us know how we can be part of your classroom journey this year.
FIM Schooltime Performances 2026-27 Field Trip Interest Form
Download educational guide flyer
2026-27 Performances
Set in a 1927 Chicago recording studio, August Wilson’s Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom follows legendary blues singer Ma Rainey as she clashes with white producers over control of her music and her voice. This powerful drama explores race, ambition, and the price of artistic freedom.
Age Recommendation: High School and older
Run time: 2 hours and 30 minutes, with a 10-minute intermission
Janet’s Planet: Tour Through the Solar System is an interactive space adventure where Captain Janet guides students on a virtual journey through the solar system. With audience participation, students explore planets and other celestial objects in an engaging, memorable way.
Age Recommendations: 3rd-5th grades
Run time: approximately 55 minutes
Teachers, extend the experience with a visit to Longway Planetarium or Sloan Museum of Discovery! View a planetarium show, explore the museum’s immersive exhibits, or engage in a hands-on STEM program. Call (810) 237-3409 or email reservations@sloanlongway.org for more information.
SUGAR SKULL! A Día de los Muertos Musical Adventure is a vibrant bilingual musical about twelve-year-old Vita Flores, whose magical journey with a spirited candy skeleton uncovers the true meaning of Día de Muertos through the rich music, dance, and traditions of Mexico.
Age recommendation: 1st-5th grade
Run time: approximately 60 minutes
Velveteen s a magical new musical about friendship, love, and transformation. When Lulu receives a cherished velveteen rabbit, the two embark on a heartwarming journey that explores what it truly means to become “Real.”
Age recommendation: K-4th grades
Run time: 55 minutes
In New York City’s East Village, a group of young artists struggles to survive, create, and connect in the face of poverty, addiction, and the AIDS crisis. Over the course of one unforgettable year, friendships are tested, love is found and lost, and a community learns what it means to truly live. With an electrifying rock score, Rent is a groundbreaking musical about holding on to hope, choosing love, and finding light in the darkest moments.
Age recommendation: High School and older
Run time: 2 hours and 25 minutes, including a 10-minute intermission
“Tap in Time” is an arts education program exploring tap dance’s history and cultural impact. The program traces tap’s evolution from Africa to the Americas rooted through the jazz and swing, bebop to hip hop eras. Through live demonstrations, interactive elements, and multimedia, students will learn about influential artists like Bill “Bojangles” Robinson, Gregory Hines, Baby Laurence, and Savion Glover. Beyond dance, the program explores rhythm, storytelling, and the cultural resilience that shaped American performance and history.
Age recommendation: 3rd-6th grades
Run time: 55 minutes
When the class gets lost on the way to the planetarium, Ms. Frizzle saves the day by blasting into outer space for an epic interplanetary field trip! But when rivalries both old and new threaten to tear the students apart, our young heroes must learn to pull together or risk getting forever lost in the solar system.
Hop on the Magic School Bus for a ride in this new musical adaptation based on the original book series published by Scholastic.
Age Recommendation: K-5th Grades
Run time: Approximately 60 minutes
Edmonton is a quiet village where gossip travels fast, and suspicion lingers. Here, an outcast woman is offered a dangerous bargain: wealth, power, and a chance at love… all for the low, low price of her soul. As a mysterious stranger stirs ambition, jealousy, and desire among the townspeople, alliances shift and intentions unravel in increasingly unexpected ways. Jen Silverman’s Witch is a wickedly funny and subversive fable about temptation, autonomy, and the true cost of getting exactly what you think you want.
Age Recommendation: High school and older
Run time: 90 minutes, no intermission
Oct 13 – Nov 8, 2026:
Enrique Diemecke, music director and conductor
Haochen Zhang, piano
An American Love Story:
Bernstein’s “Symphonic Dances” from Westside Story
Gershwin’s Piano Concerto in F
Hanson’s Symphony No. 2, op. 30 (“Romantic”)
Age recommendation: Middle and High school
Run time: approximately 90 minutes
February 13 – March 13, 2027:
Enrique Diemecke, music director and conductor
Najee Greenlee, clarinet
2026 William C. Byrd Young Artist Competition Winner
Rhythm, Song, and Celebration
Jessie Montgomery’s Strum
Mozart’s Clarinet Concerto in A Major, K. 622
Beethoven’s Symphony No. 7 in A Major, op. 92
Age recommendation: Middle and High school
Run time: approximately 90 minutes
Bring Arts Education to your School
Hocus Focus™ uses magic-based activities to support students with diverse learning needs, including those with autism, cognitive delays, emotional disabilities, and learning differences.
For more than a decade, FIM has partnered with Dr. Kevin Spencer to bring his performance-based therapy into local schools.
In 2026–2027, the program will expand to serve more students while providing professional development for educators on arts-informed instruction and assessment.
For more information about bringing Hocus Focus to your school, please contact Aiesha Lewis at alewis@thefim.org.
The Troubadours return for the 2026–2027 school year with a swashbuckling musical adventure! As they sail the seas and travel through time, students discover the magic of polyphony while enjoying a live performance by professional musicians from FIM and the Flint Symphony Orchestra.
For more information about bringing the Troubadours to your school, please contact Aiesha Lewis at alewis@thefim.org or at 810-237-7349. REGISTER NOW
Flint Rep on the Road returns this season with a three-week winter touring adaptation of the epic poem Metamorphoses by Ovid.
In this fast-paced journey through the myths of Ovid, mortals and deities collide in stories of passion, jealousy, humor, and loss—where humans become animals, rivers, stars, and more. Metamorphoses is a theatrical adventure that brings ancient stories to life, revealing a timeless truth: change is the one thing we all share.
If you would like to bring this production to your school or community group, contact Emily Nichter at enichter@thefim.org. REGISTER NOW
Educational Programming is sponsored by:
FIM 2026-2027 Season Sponsor
Presenting Sponsors for the FIM 2026-27 Educational Program Season
The Graff Family Foundation
Major Funding for the Flint Institute of Music is provided by the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation. Learn more at Mott.org