Auditions

Opera Vivente will hold auditions in Baltimore for the 2010-2011 season, February 4 and 5, 2010. Repertoire will include Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor, Handel’s Rinaldo (1731 version), and Puccini's Le villi. Singers interested in auditioning should submit a headshot, resumé, CD recording (if available) and a $25 audition fee to Opera Vivente at 811 Cathedral Street, Baltimore, MD 21201. Materials must be postmarked by January 31, 2010. Scheduling preferences should be expressed in a cover letter. Singers will be notified of their audition date and time via email. Opera Vivente provides an accompanist, but singers may bring an accompanist if they wish. Singers should be prepared to sing two arias, one of which must be in English. Translations are acceptable.

 

Opera Vivente Academy

DATE CHANGE! The deadline for submission of materials for the singer track has been extended to January 30th and the date for auditions has been changed to Friday February 5th.

 

The Opera Vivente Academy is an intensive training program for singers, repetiteurs, and production staff which will run from June 14 thru July 18, 2010. Applicants should be at least entering their senior year in high school in September 2010 and not more advanced than their first year of graduate study at the time of the program. Applicants who have completed graduate study are beyond the reach of the academy. Tuition for the program is $1,250. Some financial assistance is available and will be awarded based on need.

Singers will have weekly individual voice lessons and coachings as well as group classes in movement and acting and will have the opportunity to work with internationally known performers during weekly masterclasses. They will also attend lecture format classes in audition attire, resumes and headshots, the history of opera, and character study. At the end of the program singers will perform a fully-staged scenes program directed by Opera Vivente General Director John Bowen as part of Baltimore’s prestigious Artscape Festival.

Pianists in the repetiteur track will learn score reading, the technique of following a conductor, techniques to improve their sight-reading, and will also attend some of the lecture format classes attended by the singers. They will accompany all the staging rehearsals and will be the accompanists for the scenes program at Artscape.

Members of the production staff track will learn all facets of backstage work including scheduling, production design, technical direction, and stage management. They will also have the opportunity to serve as assistant directors during the staging rehearsals. Members of the production staff track will be responsible for running the final production at Artscape.

Singers interested in the Opera Vivente Academy should submit a headshot, resume, and one letter of recommendation to Opera Vivente at 811 Cathedral Street, Baltimore, MD 21201 by January 30, 2010. Auditions for the program will be held on February 5, 2010. Singers should be prepared to sing two arias or artsongs, one of which must be in English.

Pianists interested in the repetiteur track should submit a resume and two letters of recommendation to Opera Vivente at 811 Cathedral Street, Baltimore, MD 21201 by January 15, 2010. Auditions for the program will be held on January 24, 2010 (Snowdate January 29, 2010). Pianists will be expected to perform a solo piano work of their choice, sight-read a brief excerpt from the standard operatic repertoire, and accompany the Romeo and Juliet love duet (No. 9, pp. 103-118 in the Schirmer score) from Gounod’s Roméo et Juliet.

Individuals interested in the production staff track should send a resume and two letters of recommendation to Opera Vivente at 811 Cathedral Street, Baltimore, MD 21201 by January 15, 2010. Individual interviews will be set up once the application deadline has arrived.

 

Faculty

Jennifer Blades – Faculty Director, Peabody Opera Theater
John Bowen – General Director, Opera Vivente
Phillip Collister – Voice faculty, Towson University
Laura Lee Everett – Manager, Maryland Opera Studio
Jed Gaylin – Conductor, Hopkins Symphony Orchestra and The Bay Atlantic Symphony
Elizabeth Hart – Director of the Voice Program, Loyola University
JoAnn Kulesza – Music Director, Peabody Opera Theater
Marsha LeBoeuf – Costume Director, Washington National Opera
David Walker – Internationally renowned countertenor
Gran Wilson – Internationally renowned tenor and voice faculty, University of Maryland