Laughter erupted from the audience as Elmer Fudd and Bugs Bunny sang their way through a calamitous love affair.

It caused Prairie Rose sixth-grader Alexis Boehm to sidestep toward the aisle and turn her head to see what was on the screen.

"It's interesting and cool, because I've never really heard people go so high when they sing like that," Alexis said from the lobby of the Belle Mehus Auditorium on Friday morning.

She wasn't talking about Bugs' or Elmer's singing ability in the cartoon that was projected onto an onstage screen, but that of the Bismarck Civic Chorus, which performed earlier. The singers presented snippets of "Hansel and Gretel" and demonstrated different aspects of opera as part of an education program. It was seen by about 1,000 students during two concerts at the Belle Mehus Auditorium.

The lessons were part of the Bismarck Public Schools Student Instructional Programs, or SIPS. First- through sixth-grade students have a different fine arts experience each year. The first-graders see the children's choir, second-graders see a theater production, third-graders see a dance production, fourth-graders see a symphony performance, fifth-graders see an instrumental performance and sixth-graders see the opera.

"Those were interesting, too, but I like this one the best," Alexis said.

That was interesting to Marilyn Johnson, the BPS fine arts coordinator. She organizers the events for the SIPS program.

"Our goal is to expose every child to the fine arts," Johnson said.

She knows they might not all come away opera lovers, but she hopes they come out of it with an appreciation for different types of music. The Civic Chorus program hoped to show the students how opera is in many aspects of life.

"Opera is a part of our culture, from movies, TV and cell phones," director Tom Porter said.

The program began with "Brindisi" from "La Traviata," which is used as a cell phone ringtone and as a soundtrack for commercials. Later in the program, they played a few clips of audio that were familiar opera pieces.

"A few they just played" were recognizable, Prairie Rose sixth-grader Trey Todd said. "Not that I recognized it as opera."

In addition to learning about the familiar songs, they learned about the range of singing voices. Soprano Dawn Hagerott received hearty applause for hitting high notes. They also heard tenor, mezzosoprano and bass singing voices.

Students were given handouts with some follow-up questions to what they saw, some etiquette tips for watching performances and a ticket for free admission with the purchase of an adult admission to "An Evening of Opera" today.

(Reach reporter Sara Kincaid at 250-8251 or sara.kincaid@;bismarcktribune.com.)