Voice & Opera
The members of the voice faculty are dedicated, experienced teachers and active performers and/or researchers in the fields of vocal literature and vocal pedagogy. All belong to the National Association of Teachers of Singing. Their students have won numerous national and regional competitions, held apprenticeships with the Santa Fe Opera, Houston Opera, Chicago Lyric Opera, and Central City Opera, and won the Metropolitan Opera Auditions at the national level. Graduates are teaching in universities throughout the United States and Canada and performing in major opera houses and concert halls all over the world.
Various programs of graduate level study include the DMA in vocal performance and pedagogy and two MM degrees in vocal performance and performance pedagogy. Undergraduate programs include the BM in vocal performance and music theatre, the BME, and the BA with an emphasis in voice.
Master classes by distinguished visiting artists, such as Shirlee Emmons, Elly Ameling, Dalton Baldwin, Anthony Dean Griffey, Thomas Hampson, Frederica von Stade, Marilyn Horne, and Martin Katz, are regularly presented at the College of Music. Performance opportunities for voice students include recitals, choral ensembles, and fully staged productions of operas, operettas, and musicals. Guest directors and conductors such as Tony Award winner Mark Medoff, William Mooney, and Martin Isepp have visited the College of Music to enhance the students’ experience in the CU Opera Program.
Both undergraduate and graduate vocal students are eligible for several substantial scholarships and fellowships. Graduate students are also awarded teaching assistantships in voice and opera. In addition, vocal graduate students are frequently contracted to perform with local professional music organizations such as Opera Colorado, the Central City Opera, and the Colorado Symphony.
Private Voice Lessons
If you are interested in taking private voice lessons, please send us an email at vocaldpt@colorado.edu. Please include your contact information and your specific areas of interest for vocal studies. Messages are monitored regularly. This referral service is available to the general public as well as members of the CU community.
World Renown Opera Composer to Visit CU!
Jake Heggie masterclass schedule at CU April 8-10.
Jake Heggie is the American composer of the operas Moby-Dick, Dead Man Walking, Three Decembers, To Hell and Back, For a Look or a Touch, Another Sunrise, and At the Statue of Venus. He has also composed more than 250 songs, as well as concerti, chamber music, choral and orchestral works. His songs, song cycles and operas are championed internationally by some of the most celebrated singers of our time, including Isabel Bayrakdarian, Stephen Costello, Joyce DiDonato, Nathan Gunn, Susan Graham, Ben Heppner, Jonathan Lemalu, Jay Hunter Morris, Patti LuPone, Robert Orth, Kiri Te Kanawa, Morgan Smith, Frederica von Stade, Talise Trevigne, and Bryn Terfel, to name a few. The operas — most of them created with the distinguished writers Terrence McNally and Gene Scheer — have been produced internationally on five continents. Since its San Francisco premiere in 2000, Dead Man Walking has received more than 200 international performances. Moby-Dick will be telecast on Great Performances in the fall of 2013 and is set to receive its East Coast premiere in February 2014 by the Washington National Opera at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC. Since its 2010 world premiere at The Dallas Opera, Moby-Dick has also been produced by San Francisco Opera, San Diego Opera, State Opera of South Australia, and Calgary Opera. Upcoming projects include Great Scott (libretto and story by McNally) for The Dallas Opera’s 2015/16 season; plus works commissioned by Music of Remembrance, Houston Grand Opera, Pacific Chorale, Pittsburgh Symphony and the Ravinia Festival.www.jakeheggie.com
Jake Heggie Schedule
Monday April 8th
Masterclass in Music Theater
1:00 – 4:00pm
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Tuesday April 9th
4:00 – 6:00 – CU NOW Auditions Music Theater
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Wednesday April 10th
Masterclass in Music Theater
1:00 – 1:30 – Marybeth V. / Allan A.
1:30 – 2:00 – Jeff S. / Allan A.
2:00 – 3:00 – Here and Gone with chamber ensemble (Aiello/Sanders/Tung)
Q&A – as time allows
4:00 – Little Women Opera Rehearsal
Department Chair:
Patti Peterson
Department Faculty:
Jennifer Bird-Arvidsson, soprano
Joel Burcham, tenor
Nicholas Carthy, CU Opera Conductor
Leigh Holman, Director of CU Opera
Patrick Mason, baritone
Mutsumi Moteki, vocal coach
Abigail Nims, mezzo-soprano
Patti Peterson, soprano
Julie Simson, mezzo-soprano
Christopher Zemliauskas, vocal coach
Related Programs:
Choral Studies
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