Set amidst 420 acres of green lawns, trees, plazas, fountains and architectural wonders, University of Cincinnati’s College—Conservatory of Music (CCM) provides the proper scenery for inspiration. And it’s more than just eye candy. The conservatory’s graduate program in voice and opera is rated third in the nation, just behind Indiana University and Juilliard.
Though not the largest nor the most expensive by a considerable stretch (in-state graduate tuition is $5,264 a year and out-of-state is $11,709), the program seems to have everything a singer-in-training could possibly desire—quality instruction, generous scholarship support, comprehensive course offerings, quality performance opportunities and award-winning facilities.
Branded as a “village” to capture the spirit of a $93 million, seven-year building project that provided new construction and extensive renovations to the conservatory complex, CCM’s facilities wrap around a central plaza, reinforcing a sense of community and connection to the larger public university of which it is a part. The grounds offer a delightful balance of space and structure. But CCM’s true value to students is determined by what goes on inside its airy halls and state-of-the-art classrooms.
Says David Adams, Performance Chair for Voice, “CCM is a total performing arts training center with classes available in dance, drama, movement, Alexander technique, makeup, costuming, and much more.” And by all accounts the academic and artistic programs live up to the conservatory’s exterior promise.
Second-year MM student Elizabeth George claims that the program has surpassed even her high expectations. “I feel that it is not only preparing me vocally, but also as a well-rounded musician because of all the intense academic requirements,” says the soprano.
One measure of excellence is the size of enrollment, a mere 122 voice and opera students this fall in the undergraduate and graduate programs combined. “We’re on an enrollment management program,” says Warren George, Dean of CCM, “with target populations based on instructional capabilities and appropriate opportunities for the students. We limit admittance to the number we can accommodate.”
Those seeking specific training for the opera stage will find it in a vast vocal repertoire, and a respectable array of music, acting, movement, language, diction and even career-management courses. The program also offers performance opportunities in the form of mainstage productions that cast approximately 80 students each year, as well as studio works and choral ensembles that feature vocal soloists. “The summer program in Lucca, Italy, is also a big attraction for students,” says Dean George. “We’ve done productions over there for the past six years.”
As in most programs the size of CCM, graduate students generally get the choice roles in mainstage productions at CCM. And those who commit to the two-year Artist Diploma (AD) program (admittedly very few have this chance) are given the opportunity to perform at least four major roles in fully-staged productions—a juicy plum to take out into the world when they depart. But undergrads also get cast when they audition best. Unlike the environment at the number one-rated program, Indiana University School of Music, which is fraught with politics and bitterness over casting policies, there seems to be little controversy at CCM.
“They are very good about giving roles to those people who are on their way out so they have something for their resumes,” says Elizabeth George. “Every grad student got a role this season. That’s because they usually choose operas with large casts that can involve everyone and they double-cast everything.”
The process for casting is simple and straightforward. “All auditions are done at the beginning of the school year,” explains Adams. “They are heard and decided by the opera faculty and representatives from the voice faculty. Casting for all operas is posted during the first week of classes. While there are always disappointments, no one has ever raised the complaint of unfairness about the casting process. And it is not uncommon for a new MM or even an undergraduate to be given a role over an AD student if the audition warrants it.”
One such student was soprano Mary Mills, who will be appearing at the Met during the ‘01-‘02 season. She was cast in two mainstage productions while attending CCM as an undergraduate. “I was cast as Morgana in Alcina during my senior year,” says Mills. “And I was in the chorus of Falstaff even earlier. That role in the chorus helped me decide that I wanted to do opera. The singers were great—vocally and as actors. I was inspired.”
Opera productions that are on par with those of many professional companies have been a source of tremendous pride for conservatory faculty, students and graduates for decades. Though Mills has traveled the world and performed in the great opera houses, she still recalls her experience at CCM with awe. “The productions are amazing,” she says. “I still can’t believe the quality. They have beautiful costumes and sets, and accomplish fantastic technical feats.”
Successful tenor Kurt Streit, who was in the Artist Diploma program in the 1980s, was also impressed with the quality of the mainstage operas. “They were very good, as good as or better than many small theaters around the world,” says Streit.
Another area in which CCM can boast greater opportunity than some of its rival universities and conservatories is in the distribution of financial aid. While Indiana awards financial aid based on vocal talent—including teaching assistantships for which no prior teaching experience is required—Cincinnati distributes most of its awards based on merit.
Dean George explains: “Anybody who’s accepted to the AD program receives full tuition plus a $3,000 stipend. MM students will all receive between 85% and 100% tuition, and the same with DMA’s, some of whom will also receive assistantships. In addition, we have an opera competition every spring. This year we gave out $56,000 in prize money apart from tuition awards.”
The top award at CCM’s Annual Opera Scholarship competition, which takes place every April, is $10,000. Participants can also compete for two prizes of $7,500, five of $5,000, and some smaller amounts. All recipients of prizes of $5,000 or higher also receive full tuition. “When students audition for entrance into CCM in January, February, and March, the audition also serves as a preliminary for the opera scholarship competition,” says Adams. “The votes of the voice faculty determine who competes in the final competition.”
Reading up to this point, you could almost believe that CCM is perfect. But like all university programs, it has flaws and detractors. According to one anonymous student who participated in Classical Singer’s web forum, its most serious drawback is a lack of coaching, especially for undergrads. “The coaching staff is superb,” says the student, “but small in relation to the number of voice majors. There was never enough coaching available for all the masters voice majors … and coachings for undergrads occur in very limited amounts.”
The same student also sees the undergraduate program as too intensely academic, and the choral requirements as extreme. (In the course of the program, she sang every major Bach work, as well as most other standards in the oratorio and concert repertoire.) Other grad students agreed that CCM places too much emphasis on chorus, with four hours per week spent at rehearsals and even more before performances.
Elizabeth George’s aversion to choir was pronounced. “Choir scarred me so much for life that I’ve tried to erase it from my mind,” she says half-jokingly. “It’s tough. As a graduate you have to take a year and they are extremely strict about rehearsals. It’s time-consuming and very hard on your voice.”
When asked about this issue, Dean George was not surprised in the least about discontent over choral requirements. It has been a common complaint for as long as he can remember, and one that he feels is unjustified. “It’s only a year for graduate students,” he says. “Besides, when it comes time to audition for one of oratorios, you can bet they’ll be there.”
Despite the occasional gripe about choir, coachings or long waits for practice rooms, virtually every student and graduate (past and present) interviewed for this article spoke positively about CCM, especially in the area of vocal instruction. All voice majors receive ten one-hour lessons per quarter (one a week) with a member of the voice faculty, who also give studio classes in addition to the private lessons.
Mills and Streit, both of whom have studied with many accomplished teachers, remain fond of those who taught them in their early days at the conservatory. “I studied with Patricia Berlin, who recently passed away,” says Mills. “She was absolutely a marvelous teacher and an important influence on me.”
And Streit, who was less complimentary in general about CCM (he found many faculty members too provincial and the overall program lacking in business instruction), gave his own voice teachers high ratings. “Lorenzo Malfatti…did a very good job, especially considering he had to teach in the rather ominous shadow of the great Italo Tajo,” he says.
Tajo is credited with attracting international attention to CCM’s opera program, which he headed from 1966 to 1985. Baritone David Malis (1979-1983) spoke of his time with the revered teacher as a life-changing experience. “Mr. Tajo’s emphasis was training and study,” says Malis. “[He] would not stand for mediocrity, a fact which didn’t always make him the most popular guy around. But I learned more from him in a day than from some very well known professional directors in a month.”
Soprano Sandra Moon was also influenced by Tajo. She says working with him was one of the highlights of her four years at the conservatory. “Italo was great because he knew the old-school Italian style. We did translation in English but he knew how to work with words, how to characterize a role. He did very classical productions.”
Students today seem just as pleased with the quality of their vocal instruction. “It’s a great program because it’s small and we all get a lot of personal attention. Everybody I know loves their teachers,” says student Elizabeth George, who came to CCM for the express purpose of studying with world-renowned voice teacher Barbara Honn. So far, Elizabeth finds the training to be phenomenal. “I couldn’t have asked for a better teacher, and everything they say about her is true. She has ears like I’ve never seen in my life, really fine-tuned ears. It’s a gift.”
Second-year MM student Sean Anderson, a tenor, has been studying with William McGraw for almost six years. “He’s fantastic,” says Sean. “I’ve never walked out of a lesson without feeling that I’ve improved to some degree. He’s more of a mentor than a teacher, and I think that all of his students feel the same way. Mr. McGraw has a real passion for teaching and it’s almost therapeutic to have a lesson with him.”
Besides great teachers, small class-size, ample performing opportunities, and an intimate campus, CCM’s program offers a well-rounded curriculum that includes languages, diction, acting, pedagogy, and something that is lacking in many other programs—a required course on career management for the Artist Diploma and a Career Services office for all students. “We regularly place singers into the major summer and studio programs, such as Santa Fe, Merola, Glimmerglass, Wolf Trap, Lyric Opera of Chicago, and others,” says Adams.
Considering all of the factors above, and the general level of contentment on the part of students and graduates of University of Cincinnati’s College-Conservatory of Music, one major question comes to mind: Why isn’t it rated number one in the nation instead of number three? Perhaps next year it will be.
