Dartington International Summer School takes place at the heart of the idyllic Dartington Hall estate just outside Totnes in South Devon. For five weeks every summer the estate welcomes a vibrant community of musicians and music-lovers drawn from all corners of the globe. We offer a wide range of courses, embracing a huge range of instruments, genres and periods. We also present a rich and varied programme of performances and lectures. The Summer School welcomes everyone who wants to enjoy music, from conservatoire students and professionals to enthusiastic amateurs and late starters. All convene in one place to experience the Summer School’s particular blend of music alchemy.
The Bang on a Can Summer Music Festival at MASS MoCA (July 15-Aug. 4 Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art, North Adams, Mass.) is a residency program and festival for composers and performers of contemporary music at one of the foremost U.S. contemporary art museums. The festival is dedicated entirely to adventurous contemporary music. Faculty includes Bang on a Can founders Michael Gordon, David Lang, and Julia Wolfe, and the Bang on a Can All-Stars.
VOICExperience returned to Walt Disney World this summer for its two-week program. Singers stayed at the Coronado Springs Resort. Many past participants already in their careers returned to work and relive some great memories. Singers worked with all aspects of singing, including stage fright, arts administration, audition techniques, and material preparation. They sang on the Waterside Stage at Downtown Disney to thousands of audience members as they strolled the area, stopped to listen, and got hooked into opera at Walt Disney World!
During the 11th season of the 2013 Schlern International Music Festival and Competition, participants can interact with international opera stars and conductors on stage, learn from them in private lessons and masterclasses, and meet with them daily in an informal atmosphere; develop their careers; and get inspired and energized by the unique Alpine landscape, intense music experience, and recreation in the heart of the Schlern-Rosengarten Nature Park. In addition, they can participate in an international competition, 28 concerts, six private lessons, opera scenes, language coaching, vocal technique, masterclasses, excursions to surrounding areas, and more.
The Franco-American Vocal Academy has two programs: one in Perigueux, France and one in Salzburg, Austria. The program in France includes a full curriculum focusing on the French repertoire—opera, operetta, and art song and features Offenbach’s La Périchole in 2013. The program in Salzburg offers German language instruction, masterclasses, coaching, role preparation, voice lessons, and performance. The 2013 featured Mozart operas are Don Giovanni, Der Schauspieldirektor, and Bastien und Bastienne. All singers accepted into both programs are guaranteed preparation and performance of an entire role.
The fourth Lotte Lehmann Summer Academy was a memorable one—world stars Karan Armstrong, Thomas Moser, Graciela Araya, Mary Mills, and Janet Williams extensively taught one-on-one lessons and inspiring masterclasses. Armstrong staged a rousing final opera gala. Participants also had extensive bodywork and Pilates lessons as well as Chuck Hudson’s outstanding movement and stagecraft workshop. Singers came from Armenia, Australia, Brazil, South Korea, Finland, Germany, Mexico, Russia, Switzerland, the Ukraine, and the U.S., including some seasoned professionals such as Tati Helene and Andriy Maslakov.
Si parla, si canta is a cost-effective Italian-immersion program for young singers and pianist/coach-accompanists in Urbania, Italy. The program includes intensive study of the Italian language; musical and dramatic coaching in Italian repertoire with an illustrious, internationally-known faculty led by Artistic Director Benton Hess; exciting performance opportunities; and the chance to experience the glories of the Marche region of Italy, where virtually nobody speaks English! Participants, from recent high school grads to acclaimed young professionals, including some sent by the Metropolitan Opera, all find it equally beneficial. Applications accepted until March 1. www.siparlasicanta.org.
BASOTI’s 20th Anniversary season presented Don Giovanni and Giulio Cesare with orchestra as well as Suor Angelica, Il tabarro, and Gianni Schicchi in the beautiful performance halls of the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. “BASOTI changed my life! I gained my self-confidence through the support of BASOTI’s superb faculty,” wrote 2012 participant Eric Schlossberg of New York. In 2013 BASOTI will present Falstaff for Verdi’s 200th birthday, Handel’s Admeto and Britten’s Midsummer Night’s Dream. Application deadline is Jan. 31. www.basoti.net
The “L’Humor Bizzarro” Early Music and Dance workshop has taken place every summer since 2002. Currently it is hosted by the Scuola Popolare di Musica di Testaccio at the old Testaccio ex-Slaughterhouse in Rome, Italy. The 2012 edition featured courses in 16th-17th Century Court Dances (Claudia Celi), 18th Century European Country Dances (Ilaria Sainato), 19th Century Social Dances (Paolo Di Segni), Baroque Oboe (Angela Paletta), Recorder (Marco Rosa Salva), Renaissance and Baroque Harp (Marina Bonetti), Renaissance and Baroque Singing (Angela Bucci), Renaissance Lute and Baroque Guitar (Federico Marincola), and Ensemble Music workshop. Program dates are July 28-Aug. 4. ilteatrodellamemoria.wordpress.com/
The San Francisco Early Music Society (SFEMS) Summer Baroque Workshop will once again be taking place at the beautiful Sonoma State Campus in sunny California. The week welcomes players of all levels and experience from June 30–July 6. The workshop will explore the music and influence of the Habsburg Court with works by composers like Georg Muffat, J.H. Schmelzer, Antonio Bertali, G.B.Buonamente, J.J. Fux, and Antonio Caldara. Workshop director Linda Pearse is maintaining the faculty and structure of past years as the workshop continues to create a positive and motivating environment where participants are engaged and challenged to create beautiful music. www.sfems.org.
The Up North Vocal Institute’s 2013 season, June 22-July 21, is a four-week vocal training program based in Boyne City, Mich. The program is limited to 20 singers ages 18-45 (undergrad junior status thru post-graduate singers). The program is an intensive training program with daily voice lessons, Alexander and Body Mapping technique, acting, physical fitness and nutrition, and guest masterclasses. The program boasts a unique 2:1 student to faculty ratio and every participant works closely with each faculty member. Scholarships available.
www.upnorthvocalinstitute.com
Opera in the Ozarks at Inspiration Point celebrates its 63rd season in 2013. Apprentice Artists sing multiple roles in three mainstage productions: fully staged with orchestra, eight double-cast performances of each opera—Madama Butterfly, L’elisir d’amore, and The Pirates of Penzance. The Studio Artists perform in their own traveling production and in supporting and chorus roles on the main stage. A dedicated, nurturing staff strives to bring the best from the only 45 artists selected. Workshops in career development, stage combat, guest artist masterclasses, yoga, and movement classes supplement the intense preparation and performance schedule. www.opera.org
The Neil Semer Vocal Institute (NSVI) had an exciting 16th season with its usual broad spectrum of singers from 11 countries. Students currently in American conservatories to professionals currently singing leading roles in Bayreuth, Cologne, Munich, Hof, Theater an der Wien, as well as in musical theatre, attended. Ages were 18-57. Conductors and directors of opera companies visited the program’s audition evenings, and one singer was engaged for the 2012-13 season in Mönchengladbach, Germany, and a conductor requested a soprano to take part in a competition he presides over in 2013.
The Opera Artist Institute: Emerald City Opera (ECO) completed its 10th season in 2012. The 2013 Artist Institute will focus on individual coaching in a 10-day vocal intensive that includes arias and scenes performances, as well as a symphony concert including Institute participants and professional faculty. Daily coachings, masterclasses, and recital-lectures will round out the activities. The Institute begins with dinner on Wed., Aug. 7 and ends after the performance on Sat., Aug. 17 with departure on Sun., Aug. 18. www.emeraldcityopera.org
Now entering its ninth summer, Canta in Italia (Sing in Italy) offer singers the experience of living and studying in Lucca, Italy. From June 2-June 29, students receive daily language instruction, daily voice lesson and/or coaching sessions, and weekly masterclasses. Music and staging rehearsals fill the afternoon hours. Included in the program fees are accommodations, welcome and farewell festas, tickets and travel to an opera performance at the Arena di Verona, and passes and excursions to the state museums in Florence. Staged concerts of opera scenes and arias bring the program to a grand finale. Optional college credit is offered through Wichita State University. www.wichita.edu/cantainitalia
The Russian Opera Workshop, in residence at the Academy of Vocal Arts (AVA) in Philadelphia, is an independent, intensive summer training program for aspiring and professional opera singers. Two one-month sessions include Rachmaninoff’s Francesca da Rimini in June (Philadelphia premiere), and Rimsky-Korsakoff’s Le Coq D’or in July (first time since 1942 Met tour). The 2013 program includes daily Russian classes and opera preparation; vocal and audition masterclasses by Benita Valente, William Stone, and Thor Eckert, and guest speaker composer Daron Hagen. Past performances to overflow audiences and some reviews featured Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin, Iolanta, and Pique Dame and Rachmaninoff’s Aleko. www.russianoperaworkshop.com
Asheville Lyric Opera’s Summer Artist Training Program (SATP) is offered to singers for eight weeks each summer. Performers create a recital of scenes and arias which tours to venues throughout Western Carolina. Concert performances on the mainstage are also available depending on the singer’s level of experience. The first four weeks of the internship focus on projects designed to promote professional development skills coupled with character study and staging of assigned roles. The final four weeks continue with career development training, adding an active (2-3 per week) performance schedule. www.ashevillelyric.org/?Education:Interns%2FSummer_Artists
At Lingua e Canto challenge yourself in a three-week course combining intensive study of Italian and performance to be immersed in the language and culture of Italy. Only 21 singers are accepted which means more individual instruction! In the picture-perfect town of Sant Angelo in Vado, mornings are spent in intensive Italian instruction with native speakers from the renowned Scuola Italia. Afternoons we rehearse operatic repertoire for four concerts in stunning theaters and castles. Weekends, we travel to nearby sites of interest, and you have time for adventure on your own! Housing is in private apartments in town within walking distance of classrooms and rehearsal spaces.
The Redwoods Opera Workshop, in existence for five years, is an exciting venture brought to Mendocino by Artistic Director Elizabeth Kirkpatrick Vrenios. Through an exhaustive audition process, 15 select young singers from across the country are selected to participate in the 10-day workshop. Each day begins and ends with communal meals, and the days and evenings are filled with classes in movement and acting, staging rehearsals, and individual coaching on arias. The public is given the opportunity to hear them on Wednesday evening in an aria performance, and a staged and costumed operatic scenes recital is presented on the final evening.
Classic Lyric Arts (CLA)(formerly known as La Lingua della Lirica) provides opportunities for young singers and collaborative pianists to advance their studies of the languages and cultures of classical vocal repertoire, offering educational workshops internationally, and supporting participants in their progression from students to young professional artists. CLA France (L’Art du Chant Français/The Art of French Singing), June 10-29, offers emerging singers the opportunity to study in France with some of the finest experts of French diction, repertoire, and language. CLA Italy (La Lingua della Lirica/The Language of Opera), July 21-Aug. 15, trains emerging singers and pianists in the essential traditions and disciplines of Bel Canto.
Project Canciòn Española presents a seven day course of daily masterclasses with Jorge Robaina and Julio Alexis Muñoz, distinguished faculty of the Escuela Superior de Canto in the Palacio Bauer in Madrid near the Prado Museum, the National Archives, and the Royal Opera House. Nan Maro Babakhanian and Helen Tintes-Schuermann will also offer masterclasses. Spanish and Flamenco are included. All participants perform final concert (programmed in Madrid’s Clásicos en Verano series) in the conservatory’s beautiful 18th century theater, as well as compete for a chance to perform with the University of Granada Orchestra in Madrid and Granada in their 2013/14 season.
At the Opera Academy of California Summer Program it’s all about performance—30 public events in 6.5 weeks—fully staged productions with orchestra, scenes performances, masterclasses and aria programs. OAC provides emerging singers with opportunities to perform and the tools and discipline needed to excel. Artistic Director Yefim Maizel believes the best way to become a master of the performance craft is by immersion in multi-faceted and intense practice at rehearsal and in front of live audiences. Faculty and staff are accomplished professionals with active careers around the world. Expectations and standards are high, as are the results. Held at Fort Mason in San Francisco on the waterfront.
Early Music Vancouver: “The Compleat Singer” brings movement, passion, and projection to the interpretation of Baroque vocal music. The program runs from July 28–Aug. 9 at the UBC School of Music. Participation in “The Compleat Singer” offers a unique opportunity to explore and experiment in all aspects of the Baroque singer’s development. Benjamin Bagby and the members of Sequentia present their acclaimed course, this year focusing on the music of the original Carmina burana.
The 2012 Druid City Opera Workshop featured among its faculty the authors of three important books for young artists. Linda Lister, director of opera at UNLV and the author of Yoga for Singers: Freeing your Voice and Spirit through Yoga, was a resident stage director; Alan Hicks, freelance opera director, was also a stage director and gave daily classes on the acting techniques featured in his book Singer and Actor: Acting Technique and the Operatic Performer; and Amanda Johnston of the University of Mississippi was a coach and offered classes based on her book English and German Diction for Singers: A Comparative Approach.
Vancouver Summer Opera Studio, now in its third season, will present Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro in Aug. 2013. Our private studio offers a unique and intimate educational experience. The nature of the small ensemble ensures that each participant receives the individual attention and training required to successfully prepare and perform a role from the standard operatic repertoire. In addition to musical preparation, we focus largely on acting, providing much needed training on basic stage prowess. Private vocal lessons, coachings, in-rehearsal diction, and daily movement classes (Yoga, Alexander Technique, Dance) are also offered.
At Casentino Voice, renowned American soprano Valerie Girard will give masterclasses together with pianist, vocal coach, and conductor Marioara Trifan from Aug. 10-20 in the medieval town of Stia, Italy, in the Casentino, famous for the Castello dei Conti Guidi, haven of Dante Alighieri. Girard’s masterclasses will focus on vocal technique and Girard will join with Trifan to present classes on vocal repertoire. Active participants will receive two private voice lessons and two private coachings during the course. The program will end with a closing festival concert for active participants at the Castello di Porciano. www.valeriegirard.com/masterclass
Opera Orvieto is an international summer training program designed to give singers a complete Italian experience. Participants live in apartments in the beautiful medieval town of Orvieto and have a chance to practice their Italian skills each time they walk out on the streets! Singers are provided two meals a day and also have the opportunity to buy groceries at the local market and cook at home. The productions feature a world-class Italian orchestra at the Palazzo del Popolo in the center of Orvieto. Now in its third year, 2013 program participants will present Mozart’s masterpiece Le nozze di Figaro.
Lyric Opera Studio Weimar (LOSW) is a comprehensive opera training program designed for emerging professional singers considering a career in Europe, with a focus on the German theater system. LOSW develops singers through intense daily German language and diction coaching, training in singing, movement, rehearsal process and role study, masterclasses, individual lessons, and stagecraft. Participants benefit from sessions in audition techniques and career management. Students’ participation in the program culminates with the performance of a role in a fully-staged Mozart opera. Scholarships available. Session 1 is June 30-July 24 featuring Die Zauberflöte, and session two is Aug. 10-Sept. 3 featuring Don Giovanni.
Loveland Opera Theatre’s two-week 2013 summer workshop, Finding Truth in Singing, incorporates one-on-one lessons, as well as group sessions in Alexander Technique and acting improvisation and culminates in a final public performance of opera scenes. The program runs from June 16 to June 30 from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily at the University of Northern Colorado in Greeley, Colo. The program selects a maximum of 18 participants from high school, college, and professional level singers and costs $800. www.lovelandopera.org
World-famous mezzo-soprano Mignon Dunn will once again join Music Theater Bavaria’s voice faculty in Germany in 2013, along with many other outstanding teachers, including MTB’s Director, baritone Richard Owens, and the highly respected voice teacher and soprano Barbara Honn. In their exit interviews, students from both the Opera Studio and the Musical Theater Studio described their intensive month-long training and performing experience at MTB 2012 in terms such as “eye-opening,” “amazing,” “life-changing,” and “the best experience of my life.” MTB 2013 will again offer top quality teachers in all areas of performance skills, expert career advice, and German instruction.
In 2012 Lied Austria International celebrated its 11th and 12th Sessions in its eight year history, welcoming singers and pianists for three and a half weeks of intensive Lieder study from Schubert to Schoeck. LAI’s signature Work with Words class, performance classes, private lessons, and musical and text coachings created once again an unforgettable experience of deep personal insights, which led to an inspired and enthusiastic artistic community and many magical moments. We look forward to more of this in 2013 in two exciting and beautiful new venues. “LAI changed my life. I am eternally thankful,” wrote one participant.
The Daniel Ferro Vocal Program will be celebrating its 19th year in Greve in Chianti, Italy. The four concerts in splendid castles and historic churches are a highlight of the three weeks of intensive study and feature past participants as guest artists. The international atmosphere created by singers and faculty from around the world has fostered many lasting friendships and memorable experiences. To quote one past participant, “The program and Greve changed my life!”
The joint Bel Cantanti and Catholic University of America Summer Opera Festival is a highly professional training opera program for rising professionals. Singers selected to participate in the program this year, receive individual attention from the leading professionals in the area. Three weeks of the festival include coachings, Italian, French, German diction, daily yoga sessions, various workshops, masterclasses and vocal performance seminars. A variety of classes will be offered in such areas as vocal technique; acting in opera; Italian, Russian, and German language; audition technique; and more. The workshop’s purpose is to develop the singing actor. The singers, their dramatic intentions, and their voice will be the primary focus in each opera.
The best moments of Estill Voice Training™ usually occur during open coaching sessions when our course instructors offer solutions to many participants’ challenges to their rock tunes, opera arias, jazz ballads, or Broadway belts. But, the Quebec 2012 open coaching, under video stroboscopy by Dr. Gagnon at the College of Notre-Dame-De-Foy, was twice as exciting as the participants actually watched what happens in the larynx while hosts Julie Racine and Lyne DeFoy sang and spoke in opera, belt, sob, twang, speech, and falsetto qualities. We all found a new way to see, hear, and feel the voice!
The 2013 Harrower Summer Opera Workshop celebrates its 30th anniversary with an electrifying visit from the world-favorite Frederica von Stade and with exciting productions of Weill’s Street Scene and Offenbach’s Les contes d’Hoffmann. The 2012 Harrower Summer Opera Workshop was nothing less than stunning with productions of Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte, directed by Artistic Director Carroll Freeman and conducted by German guest Frank Hube, and A Little Night Music, directed by Copeland Woodruff and musically led by Reed Woodhouse and Christy Lee. Sylvia McNair was the special guest with a delightful performance at the annual opera gala and two sensational masterclasses.
Opera Viva! offers young singers, conductors, and accompanists the opportunity to experience the musical and cultural riches of Italian opera through study and performance in Verona, Italy. Students immerse themselves in a three-week comprehensive seminar offering a full range of professional classes and activities, culminating in performance opportunities. The 2013 sessions will be offered June 26-July 16 and July 18-Aug. 7. The faculty features world-famous artists, including June Anderson, Cecilia Gasdia, and Ashley Putnam.
Programs for High School Aged Singers
Lutheran Summer Music Academy and Festival is designed for band, orchestra, choir, piano, and pipe organ students completing grades 8-12 from across the U.S, and is taught by more than 30 world-class faculty artists and guided by a team of dedicated counselors. This four-week residential training and performance program for students of all religious backgrounds offers musical study, rehearsal, and performance opportunities rooted in an intentional community that supports musical and personal growth. The program runs June 23-July 21, 2013 at Luther College in Decorah, Iowa. Early enrollment discounts, financial aid, and merit scholarships available. www.lutheransummermusic.org
French Woods Festival of the Performing Arts is located on a private lake in the western Catskill Mountains of New York State near the Delaware River on the Pennsylvania Border. For 2013 we have a very exciting schedule of more than 66 musicals and plays plus music, jazz, rock and roll, and vocal concerts, all performed by children from 7-17 years of age in the most exciting individual choice summer camp program that also includes circus, dance, sports, horseback, magic, art, and traditional summer camp activities.
Each summer, young artists from around the world gather at Interlochen Center for the Arts to learn, create, and perform alongside leading artists and instructors. Interlochen offers a wide range of summer music programs, including musical theatre, rock, singer-songwriter, vocal artist, and more. camp.interlochen.org
Held June 24-29, Lee University Music Camp 2013 is for vocalists and instrumentalists entering grade 9-12 and rising college freshmen in 2013, desiring an in-depth study of music. Four tracks of participation are offered: the Music Lovers Track, the College Prep Track, the Jazz Track, and the Worship Leader Track. In each of these tracks the campers participate in an ensemble, as well as study music theory and history and private or specialized study in desired performance area. Members of the Lee University faculty and visiting professionals serve as faculty for the camp. www.leeuniversity.edu/academics/music/music-camp
The Walnut Hill Summer Opera Program provides intensive training for vocalists in the art of vocal and opera performance. Working with world-renowned performers and teachers, this inspiring program brings together accomplished young vocalists to form various scene study and performance groups. Students spend two weeks on the Walnut Hill campus rehearsing, as well as attending coachings and masterclasses, and then approximately eight days in Italy experiencing opera culture. Students visit La Scala, the Verona Opera Festival, and perform at Casa Verdi in Milan. They also have the chance to visit the birthplaces and museums of Verdi and Donizetti. The culmination of the program is a final performance given by the Summer Opera Program participants back on the Walnut Hill campus.
