Department Overview
Every year, between 20 and 30 gifted singers enter degree programs in the Conservatory of Music. Taught by faculty members with impressive performance and pedagogical attainments, these students take courses covering technique, performance readiness, musicianship, musical style, and linguistic accuracy. All students take weekly private lessons with a major teacher and participate in studio classes.
Curriculum Overview
The Oberlin Opera Theater, an important part of the voice program, provides training in all aspects of opera theater. Two major productions with orchestra are presented each year, and a small-scale opera is usually produced during winter term. Weekly classes cover:
- fundamentals of acting for singers, emphasizing techniques of body movement through exercise and pantomime
- preparation of opera scenes
- character development, with emphasis on learning period styles and acting techniques unique to opera
- opera stage direction
- and stage management.
Students interested in direction or management may also take courses in directing, stage management, costume design, stage design, theater sound, and theater management offered by the theater and dance program in the College of Arts and Sciences. Students enrolled in various opera classes also perform in a program of opera scenes presented each semester. Special programs are sometimes presented off campus, most recently at the National Opera Association Convention in Columbus, Ohio.
Other performance opportunities include oratorio, lieder, art song, contemporary and early music literatures, and choral music. Among the student ensembles of interest to voice students are the Oberlin College Choir, the Musical Union, and the Collegium Musicum. Voice students also appear regularly in student recitals and present major recitals during their junior and senior years.
