Sewanee Summer Music Festival

OperaFest Sewanee is an artist incubator program that brings together emerging artists and leading experts in opera from around the world. Situated atop the Cumberland Plateau, our festival provides a beautiful environment for artists to escape, create, and grow, while only being a short drive from major cities.

Directed by Laura Brooks Rice, OperaFest offers private coaching, masterclasses, various performance opportunities, and workshops exploring professional learning. Our program focuses on our three artistic pillars: creation, collaboration, and mentorship. Each session provides training on operatic style, diction and language, dramatic presentation, performance technique, and professional skills training portfolio artists. All participants will have the opportunity to perform in public concerts, including aria and opera excerpt evenings with piano and instrumental students.

Our encouraging, creative environment aims to give each participant the support and tools they need to continue developing and thrive. OperaFest participants will have a range of performance and coaching opportunities, including public master classes, aria showcases, a scenes program, and collaborative performances with SSMF student composers.