Summer programs offer a variety of options for continuing your training, adding a complete role to your résumé, exploring a new country, learning a language, and more. In an effort to help you gather information about programs, each year Classical Singer surveys participants of summer programs to see how the programs are faring. For the most part, singers report positive experiences and say they feel they are getting their money’s worth.
When you evaluate summer programs it is critical that you first determine what you’re looking for in a program. As you research to determine if a program meets your expectations, seek information about the program from a variety of sources. Not all programs are created equal, and not every program—regardless of its quality—is a match for every singer.
To help you begin your research (the key word here is begin), we’ve included excerpts below from surveys evaluating programs from the summer of 2008. If we fail to mention a program, we either received little or no information about the program, or we feature a full article on the program in this issue. Survey respondents’ names have been omitted.
To view the full surveys, please visit the Classical Singer forum at www.classicalsinger.com (click “Summer Program” under “Forum” in the left-hand menu). For detailed information about program locations, tuition, dates, classes, and more, see the summer program listings on page 94.
GOING ABROAD
Programs in Italy
Amalfi Coast Music Festival
(two respondents)
Singers at this program, set on Italy’s world-famous Amalfi Coast, stayed at a four-star hotel, and worked in daily coachings, lessons, and rehearsals to prepare a full opera, scenes, and recitals in just two weeks. The program offered language classes during the traditional Italian siesta hours, but one respondent reported her schedule was so packed she simply didn’t have time or energy for language classes. One participant raved about the beautiful accommodations, adding that three people to a room was a little squishy but doable for two weeks. Another singer commented that the performance facilities weren’t ideal but the beautiful Italian seaside made up for it.
Assisi Music Festival
(four respondents)
The beautiful city that was the site of the ministry of St. Francis is the site of this two-week program focused mainly on preparing recitals and concerts. The program concentrates on church music, but participants also branched out into Broadway, opera scenes, and both concert and chamber music. Two singers said a favorite moment was working in a masterclass with Baroque specialist Gloria Banditelli.
The program does not offer language training, coachings, or lessons.
Ezio Pinza Council for American Singers of Opera (EPCASO)
(two respondents)
This two-year-old program in the small town of Oderzo, Italy offers singers two months of daily voice lessons, coachings, and Italian language classes. Singers perform in recitals and opera scenes. Both respondents felt they got their money’s worth, though one wished there had been more performing opportunities.
Flagstaff in Fidenza
(two respondents)
During one month at Northern Arizona University’s program in northern Italy, participants prepared The Magic Flute, a scenes program, and additional recitals. Both singers who responded commented on the amazing opportunity they had to sing for Hans Nieuwenhuis, the director of the International Opera Studio in Amsterdam. One singer complimented program administrators, saying, “It is a highly organized and extremely well run program, down to the minute. There are a lot of different activities packed into a very short period.” The other singer reported that the sleeping arrangements were satisfactory but advised singers to “be aware that most women were expected to share a bed, and there were up to four women in each room.”
Florence Voice Seminar
(four respondents)
Participants spent three weeks in Florence preparing arias and scenes for a final performance. Faculty members of New Jersey’s Westminster Choir College at Rider University, which is affiliated with the program, made up much of the summer program’s instructors. Voice lessons, language lessons, and coachings were daily occurrences, with weekends free for exploring Florence and surrounding areas. All respondents said they felt they got their money’s worth for the program and said they would attend this and other programs in the future.
International Lyric Academy in Rome and Viterbo
(two respondents)
Singers at the 2008 ILAR program spent one month preparing and performing Mozart’s The Magic Flute as well as various midnight aria concerts. The program provided housing at a local hotel, Italian lessons three days a week, and weekly voice lessons. Both respondents said the program ran smoothly, with promised coaches and teachers attending.
La Musica Lirica
(three respondents)
This five-week program in the small north-eastern Italian village of Novafeltria staged two full operas with orchestra. In addition, singers participated in a scenes program and various recitals.
A typical day consisted of four hours of language classes in the morning, lessons and coachings in the afternoon, and staging rehearsals in the evening. The accessibility and comfort of the accommodations varied. Some singers were very close to rehearsal facilities—others had a two-mile walk. Some were fortunate enough to have a washer in their apartment—others had to wash clothes by hand or find a Laundromat.
Oberlin in Italy
(two respondents)
In this, its 21st season the Oberlin in Italy program changed locations from Urbania to the Tuscan village of Arrezzo. The six-week program included Italian language classes in the morning and rehearsals in the afternoon to prepare a full opera.
This program has received high marks in the past. Those responding this year, however, reported a few problems. Promised coachings and lessons didn’t happen, they said, adding that opera costumes were a little haphazard—some were beautiful, while others were much too large for the singer or pieced together at the last minute. One singer complained of hot temperatures and no air conditioning.
Operafestival di Roma
(four respondents)
Operafestival di Roma offered Italian language classes, private coachings, and lessons, while preparing two full opera productions in one month. Singers performed The Magic Flute with orchestra, Suor Angelica with piano, and a scenes program.
Housing accommodations are in the same facility as class and rehearsal space. One singer reported that she could always find a place to practice (not always the case at summer programs), and said she had “never been to a program where the singers became genuine friends and helped each other out . . . a testament to Melanie Day’s ability to select wonderful singers and great people that will not only sound good together, but work well together, too.”
The Professional Advantage
See article on page 78.
Si Parla, Si Canta
(two respondents)
This monthlong program in northern Italy offered singers the chance to study Italian and coach arias and opera scenes. Singers gave two recitals and two scenes performances, averaging one concert a week.
Participants reported that the program ran smoothly and that the small student-to-teacher ratio allowed a lot of one-on-one time.
The program draws on the expertise of the faculty at Centro Studi Italiani for the language classes, and participants raved about the quality of the lessons and dedication of the staff. One participant said he was surprised how much Italian he learned in one short month.
Programs in Austria and Germany
American Institute of Musical Studies (AIMS)
(two respondents)
One of the oldest programs in Austria, AIMS offers six weeks of intensive study. Students receive two voice lessons, two coachings, two performance classes, and an audition class each week, in addition to daily German language classes. Students give four concerts with orchestra. With 120 participants, not all singers had the opportunity to participate in these concerts, but other recitals and concerts with piano provided additional performing opportunities.
AIMS offers both a Lieder track and an opera track, depending on the singer’s focus. One singer said she felt the program seems to be drawing younger and younger singers, which affects the overall quality of singing. Another singer, however, said she thought the quality of singers was quite high.
Franz-Schubert-Institut
(14 respondents)
This intensive five-week program is designed for the Lieder lover. Each day began with a poetry class with director Deen Larsen, followed by masterclasses on Lieder throughout the day. Singers then enjoyed private evening coaching sessions.
Program participants were assigned 24 Lieder to learn before arriving and then had opportunities to perform the Lieder they studied, in four recitals. The program does not offer language classes.
All who responded commented on the inspiring beauty of Baden bei Wien, Austria, and at least four described the program as “life-changing.”
Lied Austria
(two respondents)
This program offered two three-week summer sessions in 2008: one in June and one in August. Participants raved about the individual attention they got thanks to a two-to-one student to faculty ratio.
Participants spent their days in a German language class, poetry classes specific to German Lied, voice lessons, and coachings. Singers gave three recitals at the end of the program.
Sleeping and rehearsal facilities were within a short walk. Participants described the meals as “gourmet” and advised future participants to “come hungry.”
Lyric Opera Studio Weimar
(five respondents)
This program in Germany offers participants the opportunity to sing in one full opera and a scenes program, both performed with piano. The inaugural 2008 program had two sessions, one in the month of July and one in August. In the production of Così fan tutte all female roles were double and sometimes triple cast, with additional covers, while male roles were mostly double and sometimes single cast.
Singers stayed three to a room in provided lodging. Three singers reported this as adequate and comfortable. Two other singers said it was not.
The program offers daily German lessons. One singer said the teacher wanted to speak more English than German and rarely got to the actual lesson, but two other singers described the same teacher as genuinely interested in the success of each student. Three singers reported they did not feel they got their money’s worth for the program, while two other respondents said they definitely did, and one said she plans to return to the program next year.
Neil Semer Vocal Institute
(13 respondents)
This program consists of separate two-week programs in both Aub and Coesfeld, Germany. At both locations, participants can attend for one week or two, depending on their schedules and budgets. The program is built around New York-based teacher Neil Semer’s technique, so the main activity is daily masterclasses with Semer. In addition, participants receive at least two weekly private lessons with Berlin-based teacher Roberta Cunningham.
Singers gave four concerts over the course of the program and participated in mock audition seminars and morning meditation. Monday nights were dedicated to singers of the past in a “YouTube” evening.
Respondents said lodging was clean and satisfactory, with shared or private options available. They also said the food was excellent, with farm-fresh food prepared daily.
Tyrolean Opera Project
(two respondents)
“What can be more beautiful than to attend a program located in a school in the Tyrolean Alps that overlooks a glacier-fed lake?” asked one singer after three weeks in Austria at TOP. This program provided students with dance classes, voice lessons, coachings, German language instruction, and scenes work, culminating in a final scenes concert. Lodging was available in apartments about 10-mintues from the rehearsal facilities, or at a hotel just steps away. Both respondents said they got their money’s worth and enjoyed the experience.
Programs in France
Franco-American Vocal Academy
(two respondents)
This program made its debut in 2008 in Excideuil, a small town in the French countryside. Program participants presented two complete Offenbach operettas with orchestra, in six performances each (two for each of three casts), and eight French chansons recitals.
The program was divided into two one-month sessions, and singers could do either one session or both. Each session had about 30 singers; 13 singers did both sessions. Classes included three French language classes each week, masterclasses, voice lessons, coachings, body-mapping classes, and a Brazilian dance class.
Respondents said this new program has a few kinks to work out—such as providing better costumes for performances and alerting participants to the lack of laundry facilities—but both singers praised the program directors for their problem-solving skills.
Lyrique-en-mar Festival de Belle-Ile
(two respondents)
Ten young artists spent five weeks on an island just off the western coast of France singing in the chorus of two fully staged operas. The program provided housing, transportation from Paris to the island, and a small weekly stipend. Participants paid for transportation to and from France.
Respondents said the teaching and coaching staff was suberb, but that costumes and stage facilities could have been better. Both reported an overall positive experience at the program.
Other International Programs
Barcelona Festival of Song
(two respondents)
Set in beautiful Barcelona, this program dedicates 10 days to helping participants discover Spanish art song.
“The people hired to teach at this festival are the best in this very specialized field,” one singer reported. “The level of musicality and artistry was top quality.”
The program consists mainly of masterclasses in which participants work on diction and style. It culminates in two recitals that one singer described as “the most fulfilling in my artistic career. Everyone shared great art—and surely the spirit of the festival was responsible in large part for that.”
Intermezzo Young Artist Program
(two respondents)
Intermezzo relocated from California to Belgium for its 2008 program and added orchestra to its two fully staged operas. In its new international location, the program also added daily language training.
Both singers who responded said lessons and coachings with top-notch faculty, as well as adding a full role to their résumé, were highlights of the one-month program. Both also said they paid too much money for the poor quality of food and housing, that some promised masterclass teachers didn’t attend, and that costumes and staging facilities could use improvement.
International Vocal Arts Workshop at the Jeunesses Musicales International
(seven respondents)
This program, in Groznjan, Croatia, provides singers with a taste of Eastern Europe in a picturesque village complete with cobblestone streets, a beautiful old church, and a view of the Adriatic. One singer called it “paradise.”
“We would dance in the mornings after breakfast,” another singer said, describing a typical day’s events. “Then everyone would meet together to work on group pieces and a group lesson until lunch. After lunch we usually had an hour to rest. . . . Then we would have coachings and rehearsal time to work on our own pieces.”
Branching out from typical summer program classes, the program also teaches capoeira (a martial art), mask making, Indian singing and dance, stilt walking, and carnival singing.
Performances included a classical concert, a street theater performance, a casual cabaret performance, and several informal showcases. One singer wished for a more structured daily schedule from program organizers, and another wished for more teaching staff.
STAYING IN THE STATES
Accademia d’Amore
(two respondents)
Presented by the Seattle Academy of Baroque Opera at Seattle Pacific University, this 10-day course focuses on early music practices. Participants have lessons, masterclasses, Baroque dance and gesture classes, and prepare scenes from this genre for a final performance. Auditing the program is also an option, for $30 a day. One singer who audited said he will definitely return as a full participant in 2009.
Baldwin-Wallace Art Song Festival
(two respondents)
Ten singer-pianist duos participated in this weeklong session at Baldwin-Wallace College in Ohio that emphasized singer-pianist collaboration. Those accepted into the program attend on full scholarship, and 2008 participants listed working with soprano Stephanie Blythe and pianist Warren Jones among the highlights.
Participants spent most of each day in masterclasses with invited guests. The program finishes with a recital featuring all 10 teams. This is a biannual event, so the next festival happens in 2010.
BASOTI
(two respondents)
Singers in San Francisco’s Bay Area Summer Opera Theater Institute work for nearly six weeks to prepare one complete opera and additional scenes. Both singers who responded reported high quality instruction from teachers and coaches but felt there were too many singers and not enough staff.
“It would help not to admit too many applicants,” said one singer in her advice to program directors. “Listen to the participants and do not lose sight of [those] not in the main operas.”
Bethesda Summer Music Festival
(three respondents)
This small program expanded its scene program of previous years to include two complete productions: an opera and a musical. Participants spent two intense weeks rehearsing for the final performances at a local church. Singers had a faculty member dedicated to language coaching and performed The Magic Flute in German.
Several respondents said they wished for better organization and suggested hiring an additional staff member. Also, one attendee said some parts were assigned at the last minute, making musical preparation a challenge.
Brevard Music Center
(two respondents)
The opera center at Brevard presented three full operas with orchestra, as well as two scenes program (one with orchestra) and a performance of Carmina burana for its 2008 season in the hills of North Carolina. With only six weeks to prepare, singers began each day with an audition class at 9 a.m., and rehearsed from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. (not everyone was required all day).
Singers stayed in rustic cabins with four to a room, making for very cozy quarters. “It was crowded,” reported one singer, “but fairly comfortable. Of course, I am satisfied with very little.”
CoOPERAtive
See article on p. 44.
Crittenden Opera Workshop
See article on p. 72.
Emerald City Opera Artist Institute
(four respondents)
This program’s inaugural year hosted 13 singers for three weeks at a private high school just outside of Steamboat Springs, Colo. Singers staged La traviata with orchestra, a condensed version of Così fan tutte with piano, and a scenes program.
Those who responded gave high praise for the beautiful surroundings, the program’s overall organization, and the faculty and staff. Travel to the nearest town was impossible without a car, which made grocery shopping difficult, and the program provided no meals. Administrators report that they will be expanding the program to four weeks in 2009 and will also provide attendees with one meal each day.
Fairbanks Summer Arts Festival
(three respondents)
This affordable, two-week program in Alaska gives singers the opportunity to work intensely. On the day singers arrive they audition for role assignments in the scenes program, and all musical preparation happens during those two weeks. As one singer reported, “You put on about five chorus scenes and 15 small scenes in two weeks. It’s a wild ride and seems impossible, but a lot of fun.”
Respondents spoke highly of the beautiful setting and well run program.
Key West Symphony Young Artist Program
(two respondents)
Participants at this program hit the ground running, performing 26 days out of 30 at locations (mostly churches) around the island of Key West. The traveling nature of the show meant sets were minimal and singers dressed in tuxedos and gowns. Singers stayed two per room at the Doubletree Resort, and the program provided transportation each morning to the rehearsal facilities.
Both respondents said this was a great opportunity and they learned a lot. “This program definitely gave me the opportunity to get up and do,” said one.
Memphis Opera and Song Academy
(six respondents)
Located in the heart of Tennessee, this two-week program focuses on preparing singers to audition in Germany. The daily routine mimics a typical schedule in a German opera house, with coachings and stagings scheduled individually throughout the day and seminars on German opera at night. The program does not offer German language training but provides the singers with a large binder of information on the how-tos of auditioning in Germany, including a list of German phrases. The program culminates in an evening of opera scenes.
Four of the singers who responded said they felt they got their money’s worth. Two singers expressed disappointment that many participants did not get the opportunity to perform prepared scenes (although administrators made this possibility clear to singers ahead of time), and felt that the program didn’t offer as much information about auditioning in Germany as advertised.
Opera Nuova
(two respondents)
Participants in this nearly six-week program in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada prepared three operas, a weekly song recital, and a musical theatre scenes concert. Days were full, with morning yoga, Alexander Technique, masterclasses, acting classes, and lessons, plus afternoon and evening opera rehearsals. One singer said her favorite activity was the Lunch Box Talks every Sunday when “faculty and participants chatted about various topics. It was a great way to glean wisdom from the experienced faculty.”
OperaWorks-For Singers
(eight respondents)
Ann Baltz’s programs consistently get good reviews, and the 2008 summer program was no different. Baltz offers two programs: the standard four-week program and a two-week advanced program for emerging professionals. The training program consists of morning yoga, coachings, masterclasses, and improvisation classes.
The crux of the program is to get singers out of their “technical” mindset so they can rediscover the creativity, fun, and enjoyment of making music. Singers bring their own repertoire to study, and then Baltz weaves all of the singers’ music into a cohesive, culminating concert at the end of the program.
OperaWorks-For Teachers
See article on p. 78.
Redwoods Opera Workshop
(five respondents)
In its inaugural year this program hosted singers for one week in Mendocino, Calif., which singers described as an ideal setting. The program offered seven days of workshops in acting and body movement. Participants prepared a scenes concert and spent the week in staging rehearsals. A midweek recital offered singers an additional performance opportunity.
Four singers said they had an amazing experience and it was definitely worth their money. One singer enjoyed the experience, but hoped for better organization and more competent staff pianists in future years.
Seagle Music Academy
(seven respondents)
Set in the Adirondack mountains, this program provides both daily training for singers and the opportunity to sing full roles. In just eight weeks, 16 men and 16 women put on two operas, one operetta, and one musical. Participants also received two coachings and two voice lessons each week, and participated in mock auditions with Darren K. Woods, general director of Fort Worth Opera, as well as masterclasses with other invited guests.
All singers have their own rooms, and bedding is provided. Those who responded described the housing and stage areas as “rustic.”
The program provides three meals a day, which singers described as healthy, wonderful, and a highlight of the program. All participants spoke highly of the friendly and generous staff, beautiful surroundings, and an all-around wonderful summer.
SongFest
(three respondents)
Participants reported positively about their month at oceanside Pepperdine University in Malibu, Calif. Daily classes consisted of three masterclasses and additional staging rehearsals sprinkled throughout the day. Singers prepared a combination of art song recitals and opera scenes.
Two respondents felt they received a lot of individual attention and performing opportunities. A third respondent said that promised opportunities to sing did not materialize, that some singers performed in masterclasses much more than others, and that administrators dismissed her concerns rather than working to resolve them.
Taos Opera Institute
See article on p. 58.
VOICExperience
(two respondents)
A five-star hotel in sunny Tampa, Fla. hosts singers each August for a month of masterclasses, voice lessons, and scenes work in opera and musical theatre. Participants listed both the very high caliber of the teaching and coaching staff and the opportunity to observe other singers in lessons and masterclasses as highlights. One participant said he wished the program had more affordable food options, since it did not provide meals and food choices were limited.
Westchester Summer Vocal Institute
(two respondents)
This eight-day course focuses on working on singers’ audition packages. The schedule is packed with one to two daily private coachings, voice lessons every other day, acting and agent masterclasses daily, Alexander Technique classes, and an audition workshop. The program culminates with a recital where singers can demonstrate what they’ve learned during the week.
Participants listed working with Ken Benson of CAMI and getting honest, detailed feedback from high-level industry professionals as two main highlights of the program. The program is at the Sarah Lawrence College campus, and tuition includes room and board with three
meals a day.
