I drove 45 minutes south of Cincinnati, down U.S. Highway 27, onto a winding country road.

There, between Kentucky farmland and homesteads, I hoped to learn a bit about opera. I learned more about pursuing life's dreams.

The venue was Grants Lick Elementary School in south Campbell County - next door to a horse pasture and down the street from a country cafÈ and a gas station.

When I found the place Tuesday morning, there were more than 100 third-, fourth- and fifth-graders sitting on a gym floor, wholly engaged by two performers from the Cincinnati Opera.

Andrea Jones and Omar Crook didn't look the operatic stereotype.

No capes, no horns

There were no viking outfits, no showy drape-like costumes, beehive wigs or bright, dramatic face paint. Just two young people in jeans, T-shirts and sneakers entertaining kids with a cast of characters from their past and stories about their failures, fears and triumphs.

Nine years ago, Omar was a salesman in Los Angeles looking for excitement. He enrolled in his first voice class because the other college courses were full.

Before the first day, he was handed classical sheet music and asked to sing. He didn't know how to read music, he confessed to the teacher. He'd never even stood that close to a piano before.

Fine, the teacher said, sing anything.

Anything? How about what he was singing in the shower that morning?

Anything.

He popped in a CD he'd had in his car and belted "Come Fly with Me" with Frank Sinatra. His teacher and classmates smiled.

He was sold on singing. A month later he got a tenor part in Carmen.

"It was an incredible feeling, singing in front of people you've never met and seeing them smile," he said.

His voice teacher was his mentor, he said. "She always made me feel great, like I can do it."

Weakest link

Not everyone was supportive. He acted out one disastrous audition, a solo that he squawked through. The vocal coach, played by Andrea, haughtily asked him to leave the stage, saying he was "the weakest link."

A year later he successfully auditioned in Cincinnati.

Andrea Jones had been singing since she was 5, thanks to her pastor at a Baptist church in Lexington. He coaxed her onto the stage, where she whispered and squeaked through the first few bars of "Amazing Grace."

By the end of the song she was bold enough to improvise a show-stopping finale.

A ham was born.

Besides gospel, she loved The Sound of Music, but was at first too scared to audition for it when her high school put on the play.

The school's best female singer, last year's lead actress, and even a popular cheerleader - all portrayed comically by Omar in wigs - each bragged to Andrea that she had a lock on the Mother Superior role.

Andrea steeled herself to at least try. She got the role.

The Grants Lick students laughed, clapped and asked Omar and Andrea good questions. "Did your teachers really act like that?"

Afterward, a few third-graders tutored me on the message behind the performance.

"You can do anything if you try," one little girl said.

"You have to work really hard, but it's OK if you mess up," her friend added.

The Opera's "Find Your Voice" is touring Tristate schools through Nov. 22, when it will perform at New Prospect Baptist Church in Over-the-Rhine. The public is asked to donate clothing for the needy. For info, call 744-3462.

E-mail damos@enquirer.com or phone 768-8395.