The January issue of Classical Singer highlights summer programs, and here is a sneak peek at some of the great articles you’ll be able to read. We asked summer program directors to share highlights of their 2012 program and tell us what to watch for in 2013.
If you attended a summer program in 2012, please take our Summer Programs Survey.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Summer Program Highlights – Part 2
