<p>My D and I are currently on a college visit trip. Later I may post specifics in the college visit thread. Each day so far we have visited a different college and had a voice lesson, and observed other lessons/classes/performances etc. D is more confused than ever. Did this happen to you? Perhaps this trip is helping her narrow down what she’d like to find in a program. Maybe what she wants doesn’t exist, or maybe shouldn’t exist because it’s not workable. Does the following exist?</p>
<p>A place that has:
Excellent voice training
Opportunity to sing both classical and musical theater
Study abroad available in France +/or Italy that is immersion in the culture and language, including musical training while abroad–semester or year-long
plenty of other talented/dedicated singers to sing with/be inspired by
excellent language program–French and Italian to an advanced level, not just intro/diction
performance opportunities that are well attended
Icing on the cake would be: acting classes and Alexander technique</p>
<p>Does this exist? Anywhere? It could be a BM or BA, vocal performance or music ed or general music degree.</p>
<p>Very rarely will you find a program that would allow you to tackle classical voice and musical theater simultaneously. As you’re probably aware of, musical theater holds a distinct negative stigma in the eyes of many “serious” singers, deservedly so or not.</p>
<p>Maybe look into NYU? But perhaps more so, maybe look into D’s position and career aspirations.</p>
<p>Check out Lawrence University
The Conservatory puts on the Opera each year, and the Students put on the Musical.</p>
<p>Note: Singing Musical theater sometimes requires a different singing technique than Classical Singing. That is why musical theater is discouraged for opera singers.</p>
<p>If you have not already done so, you may also wish to ask this question over on the Musical Theater section of CC. There are undoubtedly folks there who can tell you which of the better-known MT programs place emphasis on classical vocal technique.</p>
<p>The two styles may require different techniques that are not compatible in some ways, so it takes the right kind of voice, the right teacher and a lot of discipline to handle both over the long haul without doing vocal damage or transferring inappropriate habits from one to the other.</p>
<p>Item 3 could also be knocking out some otherwise viable possibilities. Some schools are not thrilled with the idea of separating the student from their applied voice teacher for an extended period just as the two are hitting their stride together, so that option is not always offered. You might want to consider getting that experience via an extended summer program (e.g. Oberlin In Italy) that is open to voice majors from other schools, particularly if item 5 can be satisfied domestically.</p>
<p>OperaDad, you are awesome. I just looked at Lawrence, and you are right–they have one of the study abroad programs that my D has been hoping for. I’ll definitely let her know about it. Wisconsin may not thrill her, but the program looks interesting–languages, acting, a bit of musical theater… Thanks!</p>
<p>You might look into Oklahoma City University. Everybody MT/VP studies classical voice. All MT/VP students are required to audition for/participate in all operas and musicals there is alot of cross casting. There are lots of performance opportunities and they are well attended. They offer a double major for MT/VP. I know they offer several languages, just how many years in each, not sure. They have a NY showcase for MT. Acting and dance, of course. I don’t think they have a study abroad program. Graduates you may be aware of: Kelly O’Hara, Kristian Chenowith, Sarah Colburn.</p>
<p>I know Carnegie Mellon has a very well respected Musical Theater program as well as a good classical music program. The VP major in the School of Music is a separate program from the MT major in the School of Drama, but talented students can apply and audition for both. Their majors have several years of dance, a few years of acting classes, and several years of languages. I’m not sure about the study abroad - can’t remember. Study abroad was one of my son’s qualifiers, and CMU was one of the schools we looked at, so they likely have that as well. Check out cmu.edu.</p>
<p>My son was interested only in classical performance. The voice professor we visited with at CMU talked often of (I think he called it) “crossover” performance. He had several students who had graduated and were currently successful in both areas, he said. They had an MT type job here and a classical performance type job there. We both liked the professor a lot. But the “crossover” thing was not for my son.</p>
<p>I can second the OCU and Lawrence recommendations. We checked out both of those as well. They both seemed to have great programs with excellent faculty.</p>
<p>Arizona State’s vocal music program offers a BM in MT. Undergrad MT students are taught by the classical voice faculty. It is a strong music based program that has turned out some substantial undergrad performers lately. I know of one undergrad in the first NY cast of “Spring Awakening”. And of course they have the strong language programs typical of a large flagship state U. There are no study abroad programs for music students, but in that case you might consider summer programs such as “Canta in Italia” which is based in Florence and run by Wichita State (but open to any voice student by audition)</p>
<p>You might want to consider looking at James Madison University. My D is in a BM Vocal Performance major with a concentration in Music Theatre. Her assigned pieces with her voice teacher are a combination of classical and musical theatre. Her voice studio includes both classical and MT concentrators. Performance opportunities include opera, opera scenes, music theatre, 4 ensembles, and a cappella groups. There are degree majors in French and Italian so I would think they would offer advanced classes.(information on the website) JMU has a new performing arts building opening in the spring of 2010 and will have excellent facilities.</p>
<p>Check over in the musical theater thread. A mom I talked to had a daughter going to University of Michigan and she was able to sit on the fence for both vocal performance and musical theater up to her sophomore year as far as I heard. Excellent school and you will probably be able to tick off alot of requirements your list over there.</p>
<p>(1) classical music training at the Jacobs School - very famous for voice and opera
(2) renowned language dept
(3) a musical theatre school next door to the music school
(4) a study abroad program in Salzburg (I think)</p>
<p>The downside is that there is a huge graduate dept. and most (if not all) of the opera roles are taken by grad students so I’m not sure how much performance exposure an undergraduate would get. I don’t know how well the MT and Jacobs School coordinate, but you could look into this.</p>
<p>James Madison University - my D is also there - has as much crossover between MT and classical as any school I know. Everyone gets classical training and those who are interested are also taught to belt properly. My D sings both rep but is not a belter so sings legit MT rep. A girl who graduated from her teacher’s studio last year is now in the MM program at MSM - she was in both opera and MT productions and also did summer stints at a theme park where she sang jazz, blues and other styles. She was able to do it all. I know there is a summer intensive in Germany that my D’s voice teacher coordinates.</p>
<p>Thank you all for these suggestions. JMU looks particularly interesting. I was on that campus years ago and it is truly beautiful besides. With new facilities opening up in 2010, it sounds even better. I’ll contact the school to see if the music department supports study abroad. The university clearly makes study abroad available, including the programs my D is interested in. Thanks again!</p>
<p>sopranomom92, there is an admissions person for JMU over on the musical theater forum. JMU is one of the colleges in the list. If you go there, look for KatMT and make contact, she can tell you all about their programs. She is familiar with both. The forum often discusses both, too.</p>
<p>sopranomom92, you may know this, but the Director of Choral Activities at JMU received his Masters in Choral Conducting from WCC. I see from another thread that your H went there. I’m sure he’d be happy to talk with your D about the school too. I don’t think you live in the area, but JMU’s Opera Theater will be presenting a mix of MT and classical offerings in Opera Scenes this month. VP, Mus.Ed and Theater majors will be performing together. There will be a performance on campus and one in Luray, Va.</p>