PERFORMANCE TRAINING FOR YOUTH
Washington National Opera provides training for 10-18 year olds in the summer through Opera Discovery Camp and Opera Institute for Young Singers.
OPERA DISCOVERY CAMP
For singers ages 10-14
July 14-26, 2008
10 a.m.-4 p.m. Monday—Friday;
with Showcase on Saturday, July 26, 2008
Opera Discovery Camp is a dynamic two-week camp designed to introduce children ages 10 to 14 to the world of opera. Emphasis is placed on personal and artistic growth, in relation to each participant’s contribution to the final artistic product and their participation as a member of a creative team of peers. Participants learn about opera through their own experience in music, drama, movement, stage craft, production elements, and the visual arts. Special guest presenters, costume studio tours, opera study, master classes, and field trips enhance their experience. The camp will culminate in a final showcase of opera scenes presented entirely by the camp participants. Interested applicants are encouraged to have some musical experience (singing in a choir or playing an instrument), but are not required to know how to read music.
Location
Opera Camp takes place weekdays 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. at the Washington National Opera Studio. 6925 Willow Street, NW, 3rd Floor, Washington, D.C. 20012. Two blocks from the Takoma Metro Station. Showing will take place on Saturday July 26, 2008, time TBA.
Tuition
$800 with need-based scholarships available.
Scholarship forms will be available upon acceptance into the program. If you are interested in applying for financial aid, be sure to check the appropriate box on your application form.
Refund Policy
Refunds are granted until June 15, 2008, minus a $100 cancellation fee.
THERE ARE NO REFUNDS AFTER JUNE 15, 2008.
How to Apply and Audition
An audition is required. Auditions are held at Washington National Opera Studio
April 23, 2008 4-7 p.m., by appointment only.
Please call 202.448.3465 or email education@dc-opera.org to schedule your audition.
Please bring completed application to your audition. APPLICATION FORM
Audition Requirements
Please prepare two songs.
One can be Broadway; the other must be non-Broadway and could include church hymns, art song, or traditional song. Pop songs and opera arias are not permitted. Those auditioning should be prepared to vocalize and sing pitch patterns. Please bring two copies of your music along with a completed application. An accompanist will be provided.
Eligibility
Eligible participants must be between the ages of 10 and 14 with some singing and/or musical experience. Ability to read music is helpful, but not required.
OPERA INSTITUTE FOR YOUNG SINGERS
For serious vocal students ages 15-18
June23-July12, 2008
Monday-Friday 9 a.m.-5 p.m.
Opera Institute for Young Singers is a three-week pre-professional performance training program designed to provide serious vocal students between the ages of 15 and 18 the training components essential for a well-educated young singer serious about pursuing an operatic career. The Opera Institute curriculum focuses on Italian art songs and includes classes in drama, movement, yoga for singers, ear training, sight singing, opera history, and Italian diction. Students participate in master classes, opera scenes, individual vocal coaching, and group and individual voice lessons. Opera professionals present workshops on relevant topics including auditioning, college and résumé preparation, and vocal health. The program culminates with each student performing in an Italian Art Song Recital.
“The qualified staff along with the collegiate atmosphere made Washington National Opera's Institute for Young Singers an exciting adventure. I learned not only about music, but also about myself and watched my training be put to action while rehearsing for opera scenes and preparing for the Art Song recital. Overall, my experience at the WNO Institute for Young Singers was very positive and I will remember it throughout my life.”
-- 2004 Opera Institute Graduate
“I would recommend the Institute to any young singer who wants to have a fantastic summer and learn the tools essential to establishing a career in opera.”
-- 2002 Opera Institute Graduate
Location
Classes will take place daily at the Benjamin T. Rome School of Music at The Catholic University of America, with field trips on and around the campus.
Tuition
$1,500 with need-based scholarships available for tuition only. Scholarship forms are available after acceptance into the program. Requesting financial assistance does not alter your chances of being admitted to the program and a student has never been turned away due to financial difficulty.
Housing
Room and board in the residence halls at Catholic University is available for an additional fee (appx $1,150). Residence halls are supervised by Resident Assistants. Students share residence halls with other students participating in other summer programs simultaneously held at Catholic University. Activities in residence halls (such as games, movies etc.) as well as local field trips (to the monuments, zoo, museums, etc.) are arranged and supervised by the Residence Hall staff on evenings and weekends. Scholarships are not available for housing.
College Credit
One (1) college credit is available (for rising high school juniors and seniors, and rising college freshman) from The Catholic University of America for participation in Opera Institute for Young Singers for additional cost of $260. Catholic University accepts the credit for students who matriculate there. It is the student’s responsibility to check with his/her university as to whether credit will be accepted at that particular institution.
Refund Policy
Full refunds are granted on or before May 15, 2008, minus a $100 cancellation fee. THERE ARE NO REFUNDS AFTER MAY 15, 2008.
Schedule
Participants have daily classes in drama, movement, ear training, sight singing, Italian diction, music theory, opera history, yoga, and auditions. In addition, they have group and individual voice lessons and vocal coaching. During the first two weeks they prepare opera scenes and give an informal performance at the end of the second week. Master classes with prominent professionals in the field of opera highlight each week, along with workshops covering such topics as auditions, résumé writing, and goal setting. Participants attend an opera performance. The three-week program culminates in an Italian Art Song Recital in which each participant performs. This recital is free and open to the public, but reservations are required.
Sample Schedule
8:55 a.m. Arrival
9:00 a.m. Movement for Singers
10:30 a.m. Master class: Breath Support
12:30 p.m. Lunch
1:00 p.m. Opera History
2:00 p.m. Drama Class
3:00 p.m. Individual Vocal Coachings
Opera Scenes Rehearsals
Voice Lessons
Library/Practice time
5:00 p.m. Announcements & Dismissal
Audition and Apply
An audition is required. Click here to download the APPLICATION FORM.
Live auditions are held at Washington National Opera Studio on Saturday, February 23, 2008, by appointment only. Please call 202.448.3465 or email education@dc-opera.org to schedule your audition beginning in January of 2008.
If you are unable to give a live audition, you may submit a video or DVD. Please prepare this audition as if you were attending a live audition (same requirements apply) with piano accompaniment. Begin by introducing yourself and your selections. Make sure the video or DVD is playable in a VCR/DVD player. We cannot accept mini tapes or DVDs that will only play on a computer. Clearly label it with your name and send it with a completed application and letter of recommendation to:
Washington National Opera Studio
Attn: Opera Institute for Young Singers Audition
6925 Willow Street, NW 3rd Floor
Washington, D.C. 20012
Audition Requirements
Please prepare two art songs; one must be in Italian. Arias are strongly discouraged. If attending a live audition, please bring two copies of your music along with a completed application and letter of recommendation. An accompanist will be provided.
Eligibility
Eligible participants must be between the ages of 15 and 18 and already engaged in in-depth vocal study with an interest in pursuing a career in voice. Students should currently be studying Italian Art Songs.
Summer 2007 Faculty
Cindy C. Oxberry, (Drama Teacher and Opera Scenes Stage Director), a native of New York, is an opera director who earned her Bachelor's degree in Opera Theater at the Hartt School and her Master's degree in Voice from the Manhattan School of Music. As a performer she sang many roles with companies such as New York City Opera, Texas Opera Theater, Chautauqua Opera, Opera Omaha, Central City Opera Festival, Skylight Opera Theatre, and Boston Lyric Opera. Frequently Ms. Oxberry works as Assistant Director for Washington National Opera and has worked with directors including David Edwards, Stephen Lawless, Peter McClintock, John Pascoe, Marta Domingo, Emilio Sagi, Mariusz Trelinski, and acclaimed director, Marthe Keller. These productions included Fedora, La Rondine, Il Barbiere di Siviglia, Rigoletto, Un Ballo in Maschera, Turandot, Il Trovatore, Aïda, Vanessa, The Tales of Hoffmann, Pique Dame, Luisa Fernanda, Samson et Dalila, Lucia di Lammermoor, l’Italiana in Algeri, and Madama Butterfly. She has also worked with Utah Opera, Opera Colorado, and Los Angeles Opera. Ms. Oxberry was invited by Plácido Domingo to direct the celebration marking his 40th Anniversary of professional singing. For this milestone, she directed Fedora for the International Opera Company of Mexico at the Palacio de Bellas Artes. Ms. Oxberry directed Washington National Opera’s Opera Camp for Kid's production of Brundibár in the summer of 2005. She has also directed The Music Man for Montgomery College Summer Dinner Theatre and an “illustrious production of The Mirkado for The Savoyards of DC. Ms. Oxberry is delighted to return, in her eighth year on faculty.
Millicent Scarlett (Voice Instructor) hails from Winnipeg, Manitoba. Described as "an operatic soprano in the making" by the Toronto Star in 1994, she has fulfilled this prophesy. In 1995 she was a winner in the Luciano Pavarotti International Voice Competition and performed with Maestro Pavarotti in 1996. She has been a Metropolitan Opera National Council for the Mid-Atlantic region finalist from 1994-2000, and was a National Semifinalist in 1999. Most recently she was heard in the role of Electra in Mozart's Idomeneo with Opera Lafayette. She was also in the production of "Fatal Song or the Great Opera Murders" held at the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center in College Park, MD. The Post wrote, “all were excellent, Scarlett was outstanding." She was also heard at the Kennedy Center with Donald McCullough and the Master Chorale of Washington in Let my People Go, a spiritual journey along the Underground Railroad. Millicent currently resides in Maryland and is on faculty at George Washington University as Professor of Voice.
Donald Armstrong, D.M.A., (Ear Training, Sight Singing and Theory Instructor and Vocal Coach/Accompanist) recently completed his degree in voice from Shenandoah University in Winchester, Virginia where his dissertation was titled: "Love Bade Me Welcome": Exploring the Relationship of the Choir to the Soloist in Ralph Vaughan Williams' Five Mystical Songs. Don has served as Director of Music for various churches for the past thirteen years and has spent the last five years at North Bethesda United Methodist Church in Bethesda, Maryland. In addition to six years of experience teaching music in both public and private school settings, Don also maintains voice studios in Bethesda and in McLean. Before coming to the DC metro area, Don served as a pianist in the US Army Band stationed in Panama. He also worked for three years in Giessen, Germany, as the Assistant Artistic Director for the Keller Theater.
Scott Crowne, D.M.A., (Vocal Coach/Accompanist) enjoys an active career as a performer, coach, and teacher in the Washington D.C. metropolitan area. He received his DMA and MM from the University of Maryland, where he was a student of Rita Sloan and John Greer. There he performed in numerous concerts and recitals as a vocal accompanist, chamber musician, continuo artist, and orchestral pianist. He spent three years as a répétiteur with the Maryland Opera Studio, assisting with the preparation and performance of opera scenes and full operas. He regularly collaborates with the Army Field Band in chamber music concerts and performs frequently at the Arts Club of Washington. Other recital performances have taken place in venues across the United States as well as in Europe. As a staff accompanist, he has participated in venues such as the Washington National Opera's Opera Camp for Kids and Family Opera, the Miami Festival in Salzburg, the Aspen Music Festival, the Brevard Music Center, and the National Orchestral Institute. He has participated in master classes for Martin Katz, Steven Blier, Jerry Hadley, and Delores Ziegler. His undergraduate studies were done at the Catholic University of America from which he graduated Summa Cum Laude and studied with Jim Litzelman.
R. Timothy McReynolds, D.M.A., (Vocal Coach/Accompanist) is a frequent collaborator with singers in the Washington/Baltimore area. He coaches art song and teaches diction and technique classes as a faculty member of University of Maryland. He is also music director for Towson University's Music for the Stage and a piano professor at Loyola College of Maryland. Dr. McReynolds received his Bachelors of Music from Indiana University, Masters of Music from the University of Michigan, and completed his DMA at the University of Maryland. He has worked alongside film and Broadway soprano, Marni Nixon, American composers William Bolcom, John Musto, and Richard Hundley, and Metropolitan Opera tenor, Anastasios Vrenios. Dr. McReynolds has toured internationally with Columbia Artists, and has given concerts and master classes in Mexico, Germany, and Austria. He has also performed in recital with acclaimed bass-baritone, the late William Warfield. He was invited to attend the 2004 Aspen Music Festival where he was a fellowship pianist for the Art Song and Vocal Chamber Music program. Dr. McReynolds continues a close association with the Washington Vocal Arts Society and their Discovery Recital Series. Recent concert venues include the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., the Maryland Arts Festival in Baltimore, and the Egyptian Embassy in Vienna, Austria. This is his second year coaching for Opera Institute.
Patrick O’Donnell, D.M.A., (Opera History Instructor and Vocal Coach/Accompanist) is currently on the faculty of the Levine School of Music in Washington, D.C., as piano teacher and vocal coach, most recently appearing with soprano Michelle Kunz in a recital at the Church of the Epiphany featuring songs of composer Libby Larsen. He also serves as faculty accompanist for student recitals and competitions at the Levine School, including the annual Prism Concert held at the Terrace Theater of the Kennedy Center and the Showcase Concert at La Maison Française of the French Embassy. He has accompanied masterclasses featuring visiting artists such as Paul Sperry, Michael Cordovana and others. Dr. O’Donnell was one of the master coaches and a featured guest artist this past summer at the Fairbanks Summer Arts Festival in Fairbanks, Alaska, where he collaborated with mezzo-soprano Louise Urban and baritone Dominic Cossa. At the festival he coached and accompanied singers in opera workshop recitals and performances. He served for two seasons as assistant artistic administrator for the Virginia Opera, as well as children’s chorus director and the music director for one of Virginia Opera’s touring programs. Dr. O’Donnell was an active participant with Virginia Opera’s Spectrum Resident Artist Program as coach and accompanist working with singers in concert and opera venues throughout Virginia. He also served as music director for the world premier of Seymour Barab's “Cinderella,” and has collaborated on the development of “Oh, Freedom!” and “I Hear America Singing,” which have been performed at more than 500 schools and communities from Delaware to North Carolina. He earned his BA from Yale University, his MM in Piano Performance from The University of Maryland, and his DMA in Chamber Music and Vocal Accompaniment with Martin Katz at the University of Michigan.
Joy Puckett Schreier, D.M.A. (Italian Diction Instructor and Vocal Coach/Accompanist) Hailed as a pianist who “really has it all – fiery technique and a rich, warm tone,” Joy Puckett Schreier made her Carnegie Hall debut at Weill Recital Hall in March 2007 with soprano Danielle Talamantes. She received her doctorate in accompanying and chamber music in 2003 under Jean Barr at the Eastman School of Music. At Eastman, Dr. Schreier was the recipient of the Barbara Koeng Award for Excellence in Vocal Accompanying as well as a three-time prize winner in the Jessie Kneisel German Lieder Competition. Former teachers include Ann Schein, Laurence Morton and Douglas Guiles. Dr. Schreier has served as official pianist for the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions and the Wolf Trap Young Artist Auditions. She has been presented in recital at the Kennedy Center, the Polish Embassy, the residence of the Egyptian Ambassador, Anderson House on Embassy Row and Strathmore Hall. With the Maryland Youth Symphony Orchestra she performed in Taiwan, Great Britain, Italy, France and Spain. Dr. Schreier, with soprano Danielle Talamantes, was most recently named the Grand Prize winner of the Lotte Lehmann Foundation CyberSing 2006 Art Song Performance Competition. She has also coached grand prize winners in the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, the National Association of Teachers of Singing Artist Award, and the Luciano Pavarotti International Voice Competition. Other performances this season include Center Stage in San Francisco, the National Museum for Women in the Arts with Eugenia and Arianna Zukerman, the Terrace Theater at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, and the National Portrait Gallery.
Susan Slingland, D.M.A., (Vocal Coach/Accompanist) is currently on faculty as an accompanist for the Hayes School of Music at Appalachian State University. She received her Doctorate of Musical Arts from the University of Maryland in Collaborative Piano in May of this year with a dissertation entitled “Twentieth Century Composers Influenced by Jewish Culture.” She also received her Master of Music in the same program under the tutelage of Rita Sloan and Robert McCoy. Previously, Dr. Slingland studied at the Peabody Conservatory with Marian Hahn and received her undergraduate degree in visual art and piano performance, studying with Brian Ganz. She was a co-winner of the Young Artists’ Auditions at Harmony Hall as well as a semi-finalist in the Altoona-Mozarteum Piano Competition. Dr. Slingland is a regular vocal coach for the Washington National Opera’s Summer Institute, this being her fifth year, and has also been a substitute dance rehearsal pianist for mainstage Washington National Opera productions. She is a frequently requested staff accompanist for summer workshops at the University of Maryland for double bass, clarinet and flute, as well as one of two staff accompanists for the Maryland Distinguished Scholar Talent in the Arts Competition. She has often accompanied chamber music recitals with members of the Army Field Band and Singing Sargeant members, and has performed frequently at the Arts Club of D. C. Dr. Slingland received the inaugural Robert McCoy prize in instrumental collaboration for the University of Maryland’s Ulrich Competition. She has also toured with the Portland (ME) Symphony Orchestra’s chamber symphony concerts and has been rehearsal pianist and vocal coach for their annual Christmas concert. She is active in D. C., Maryland, Virginia, and now North Carolina, as a coach, chamber musician and orchestral pianist. |
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