Vincerò Academy offers an online mentorship platform connecting singers from all backgrounds and nationalities seeking role study preparation, with the greatest opera stars of our time, including Ailyn Pérez, Angel Joy Blue, Brian Jagde, Lucas Meachem, Kristine Opolais, Javier Camarena and many more. Vincerò’s individually curated role-study programs provide students across the world with an elite training online and an invaluable network of some of the most influential mentors within the opera industry. As the program approaches its fourth anniversary this Fall, founder and Artistic Director Abdiel Vázquez shares details about his visionary project and its evolution over the past three and a half years.
What made you decide to start Vincerò Academy? How has the project met and/or exceeded your initial concept?
During the pandemic, I started organizing summer masterclasses online with some amazing artists and authorities in the world of opera such as Ailyn Pérez, Kristine Opolais, Howard Watkins, and David Lomelí, and the response we received globally was overwhelming. Clearly, among young singers worldwide, there was a pressing need for access to continuous high-quality training that was not being met, partly due to cost (imagine traveling to New York from Lima or Singapore for only a week of coachings) but also the difficulty of getting in touch with such important figures.
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I partnered with Ailyn and David to start Vincerò and we structured it as a long-term role study program, and the response has been overwhelming in a positive way! We have had more than 120 students enroll from almost 30 different countries, and the community of young artists sharing their experiences, their struggles, and their love for their craft has been such a joy to be a part of.
How were you able to assemble and maintain such a stellar faculty lineup? What is it about this high-profile faculty that is particularly beneficial for the participants?
I am very grateful for all the faculty members who decided to take this leap of faith into this project. I knew many of them but others I met through Ailyn or David, and many others I just started contacting directly. Everyone has been so appreciative of such an effort to reach young talents from all over the world, it just shows that what was missing was this link that Vincerò Academy now provides. We do our best to make it easy for everyone, since at the end you are connecting people of different time zones, languages, ages, technical resources, currencies, etc. so we have put a lot of effort into trying to make the process smooth for everyone.
For the students, it has been incredible to be able to learn from these artists, many of whom they only knew through their recordings or social media. These are true titans and insiders of the industry sharing their knowledge and experience in a generous and selfless way. In many cases, faculty members have expressed that this is because they themselves wish they had had access to a program like this back when they were starting!
Where do Vincerò Academy students come from, and where are the alumni now? At what point of their development has it proved best for them to participate in the academy?
We have students of very different age groups and a variety of countries, and they are all looking for that extra push in their careers, both locally or internationally, by learning full roles, meeting the right coaches or voice teachers, forming a new connection with a manager or stage director, etc. There are a lot of incredibly talented singers who for one reason or another—financial, geographical, or sheer luck—did not enter the conveyor belt path of going to an expensive university, an Ivy-style conservatory, a prestigious Young Artist Program, or winning an international competition, but are nevertheless perfectly capable of building and sustaining a successful career in opera. Moreover, those who were not thinking of moving to a different country are now sharing this newly acquired knowledge and network within their own communities, which is an incredible side effect of this project. We provide all of that access at a fraction of the traditional cost, and this has proved invaluable for our students.
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How has Vincerò Academy evolved since its initial season in 2020? What are your hopes for the future?
When we started in the middle of the pandemic, the world was still fully shut down for opera singers worldwide, so a lot of faculty and students had more time on their hands and working online was easier. Now the main challenge is to balance the very active careers of our faculty members with the very active lives of our students, many of whom attend school, or have blossoming careers both performing and teaching, or have full or part time jobs in other industries. We have adapted our program to give our students enough structure but also flexibility, which means every student gets a very personalized and curated curriculum according to their needs.
On the other hand, we have added live experiences which have been incredible, such as our full opera productions in Mazatlán, Mexico (Don Giovanni in 2022 and Le Nozze di Figaro in 2023), four performances at Carnegie Hall, and recently, in person masterclasses in New York with none other than Angel Blue and Anthony Manoli! In the future we hope to continue creating more of these hybrid experiences in different parts of the world.
For more information and application details please visit https://vinceroacademy.com. The deadline to participate in the next session is July 15. There is no application fee and no age limit.
