<p>I have been watching quite a few clips of the students that are enrolled/have been enrolled at Penn State and noticed that a lot of the girls sing mostly Legit style. Do they accept mostly legit/soprano girls or is there a wide variety of styles/types of voice? Also, are the students trained mainly classically or do they learn all of the styles of musical theatre?
I might be wrong with my observations, but a mixed vocal training is especially important to me when choosing schools.</p>
<p>Any input would be appreciated!</p>
<p>Hi mtfuture! I am a rising sophomore at Penn State! That is honestly a great question and from videos it can appear to be deceiving. However, the voice faculty here is absolutely top of the line, and I believe it to be one of the best in the country. They truly believe in one voice, blending your belt with your mix, strengthening your legit soprano, expanding your range, and most importantly healthy technique. I would most definitely say it’s the best combination of both classical and contemporary training possible. The voice teachers operate under the philosophy that you must be able to sing any style of musical theater to work, and that explains a focus on legit soprano, AS WELL as contemporary belting and such.</p>
<p>Hope this helped!</p>
<p>Thanks so much jay1994! It definitely cleared up some confusions I had before.</p>
<p>Hi MTfuture! Indeed a great question. My daughter was accepted into the program with absolutley <em>no</em> legit head voice at all, and a very limited mix - over the course of 4 years, Mary Saunders Barton dismissed what we thought were certain limitations and stretched her voice to places we never imagined. Penn State’s MT program is as good as they come, and the vocal training is specialized to your particular needs.
My daughter was a 2012 grad and has worked steadily since! Let me know if you have any specific questions. Thanks!</p>
<p>Question for you sualabama,</p>
<p>Do you have to be accepted into the university campus to be considered for the music department. My daughter has good grades (3.8) but sat scores may not be super high. She is a soprano 1 and is classically trained but was wondering if she only gets into a satellite campus is she eliminated from the music program. Just curious. Thanks!</p>
<p>Hi Reinfam-
My daughter just graduated in May and also used Mary Saunders for her voice. If you daughter applies for the musical theater program, she will only be considered for the main campus as that is the only campus offering that major. I believe that academically she will qualify for MT as long as she meets the academic requirements of any of the PSU campuses. Truthfully, her audition will count for the most when it comes to admission in this program. Her GPA sounds great, so I don’t think academic admission would be a problem for her unless her SAT’s are incredibly low. I’m don’t know when she is applying, but just beware that MT candidates must do a pre-screen before being invited to audition. Good luck!</p>