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Graduate Vocal Arts Program

Graduate Vocal Arts
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Curriculum
The curriculum of the Vocal Arts Program is divided into three main components: Core Seminar, private instruction, and workshops. The coursework is designed to support students as they identify strengths, understand more clearly what they need to say, and what they can bring to a musical life that no one else can. Through these different components, students participate in weekly voice lessons, diction and repertory courses, training in acting, and opportunities to work with music of all kinds—established repertory, operatic works, scores with ink still wet on the page, popular song, and folk song.

Core Seminar

Core Seminar

The program’s innovative curriculum centers on the Core Seminar, which focuses on topics that address different aspects of the singing life: poetry and text, diverse musical influences, and opera.
  • Core Seminar I: Poetry Into Song
  • Core Seminar II: First Songs
  • Core Seminar III: Creating Meaningful Performance Opportunities
  • Core Seminar IV: The Singer and the Stage

Core Seminar

Core Seminars meet at least three hours a week for each of the student’s four semesters at Bard. These seminars introduce and tie together the historical and cultural perspective, the analytical tools, and the performance skills that distinguish vocal and operatic performance at the highest level. At the same time, the shifting focus reflected in the sequence of core seminar topics provides for intensive training in fundamental skill areas: working with text, expanding expressive and vocal resources and professional development.

The Core Seminars draw on the expertise of a variety of specialists, including Bard faculty and guest artists. 

Core Seminar I: Poetry Into Song

This seminar views text as a central point of departure for all vocal performance. It introduces and develops an essential range of workshop skills in working with text and understanding its realization in song. The choice of poets becomes a means of connecting with primary bodies of established repertory, with works by lesser-known composers from past style periods, and with music by contemporary and active composers. The seminar is designed to begin with a study of a poet’s life, work and style, and continues with a detailed examination of an appropriate musical exemplar. Workshop skills are further refined as the student works independently to find, prepare and perform related repertory.

Core Seminar II: First Songs

This seminar is an exploration of contemporary movements in vocal music. In addition to the study of established living composers and their vocal compositions, students will be matched with new and recent works through the First Songs performance project, closely collaborating with composers and culminating in performances in venues on and off campus. Past concerts have taken place at National Sawdust in Brooklyn, NY; the Morgan Library in midtown Manhattan; and the Edward M. Pickman Concert Hall in Cambridge, MA. The second part of the seminar, in collaboration with Opera Workshop, will encompass the exploration of movements within the American contemporary operatic repertoire, and conclude with a staged performance of selected scenes. 

Core Seminar III: Creating Meaningful Performance Opportunities

In this seminar each group of 3-4 students creates and produces with their pianist one concert and one outreach event, both of which are performed in nearby community venues. Every aspect of creation and production - searching for music, choice of repertoire, shaping the program, securing a venue, publicity, printed program and program notes, scheduling of rehearsals - everything is coordinated and organized by the students themselves. This seminar helps students appreciate a full range of options and possibilities available to them, in order to recognize the ways in which their individual strengths and acquired skills relate to these possibilities, and to better understand and appreciate the steps to realizing their musical, artistic, and creative goals. Building on skills and awareness acquired in the Professional Development Workshop (detailed below), students learn to develop working relationships not only with fellow musicians, but also with those involved in other essential roles in the industry, such as artistic direction, promotion, and grant applications.

Core Seminar IV: The Singer and the Stage

This seminar encompasses a fully staged operatic production and utilizes the skills developed in the three previous seminars. These productions strive to combine technical vocal artistry and dramatic skills with creative productions and ideas that are co-developed between the artists and the production team. The seminar also includes an intensive study of classical and Baroque operas by Mozart and Handel, through individual role development.
Private Instruction

Private Instruction

  • Voice lessons: All students in the program receive private voice instruction each week in New York City.  In the event that in-person lessons and travel to New York City are not possible due to COVID-related health concerns, lessons will take place remotely from the Bard College Campus, using low-latency, high-quality audio platforms.
  • Vocal coaching: Every student in the program receives weekly individual sessions, alternating between artistic director, Stephanie Blythe, associate director, Kayo Iwama, and artist-in-residence faculty member, Erika Switzer.
  • Alexander Technique: All students receive weekly private Alexander Technique tutorials.

Vocal Arts Workshops

Vocal Arts Workshops

Additional coursework includes the following classes:
  • Acting Explorations
  • Diction and Phonetics
  • Language Translation for Singers
  • Opera Workshop
  • Professional Development
  • Recital Class
  • Performance Workshop
  • Vocal Chamber Music
  • Vocal Ensemble Workshop

Vocal Arts Workshops

Acting Explorations
This workshop gives students an opportunity to focus solely on the acting component of performing. In a studio setting, students work on a variety of theatrical texts selected to address the particular needs of each performer.

Diction and Phonetics
This workshop is an advanced study of the diction of the languages most commonly used by singers. German, Italian, and French diction are studied, with additional units in other languages such as Russian or English. Also included is attention to the physiology of phonetics, in order to create a better understanding of how diction relates to the production of sound, as well as an exploration of the repertoire and composers of each language.

Language Translation for Singers
This workshop, taught by Bard College language professors, develops translation skills, reading facility, and general cultural awareness of the three main languages used by singers: French, German, and Italian.

Opera Workshop
The opera workshop develops the singing actor through creative questioning, acting and improvisation exercises, and aria and opera scene work. Stagecraft techniques are developed to create the most effective storytelling. Interpretation of character is developed through discussion, research, and analysis to enable clarity of communication and a personal artistic voice. Additional work in audition techniques and presentation of professional materials may also be addressed.

Professional Development
This workshop consists of 14 encounters with a variety of professionals who present topics of interest necessary for the students’ development as individual artists. The workshop’s content ranges from “outer artist” concerns such as networking, auditioning, and promotion to “inner artist” considerations of creativity, authenticity, and self-care.

Recital Class
This class provides a forum for an in-depth exploration of the repertoire programmed on the graduate degree recital. Weekly musical presentations and class discussion, along with an exploration of research materials, provide a comprehensive basis to enable performers to create unique and personal interpretations of their selected works. Singers also prepare a lecture/demonstration to be presented in class in advance of the graduation recital.

Performance Workshop 
The Performance Workshop offers all VAP singers an opportunity to perform in class, and share with their classmates, any well-prepared piece of their own choosing.

Vocal Chamber Music
The vocal chamber music workshop cultivates the skills of instrumental collaboration and is run in partnership with the Conservatory chamber music program. Vocal Arts Program students come together with Conservatory instrumentalists to perform works from the vocal chamber music repertory.

Vocal Ensemble Workshop
The study of duets, trios, and quartets from the art song repertory cultivates skills in listening and musicianship. The workshop culminates in a public performance of works for vocal ensemble. 

Summary of Requirements

Summary of Requirements

A minimum of 62 credits; all credits must be acquired at Bard:

  • Voice Lessons: four semesters (CNSV 500, 3 credits)
  • Vocal Coaching: four semesters (CNSV 505, 2 credits)
  • Alexander Technique Workshop: four semesters (CNSV 530, 1 credit)
  • Core Seminar: four semesters (CNSV 515, 3 credits)
  • Diction and Phonetics Workshop: four semesters (CNSV 520, 521, 522, 523; 2 credits)
  • Language Translation for Singers: three semesters (CNSV 524, 526, 527; 1 credit)
  • Acting Workshop: two semesters (CNSV 535, 1 credit)
  • Opera Workshop: three semesters (CNSV 537, 1 credit)
  • Professional Development Workshop: one semester (CNSV 540, 2 credits)
  • Vocal Chamber Music Workshop: one semester (CNSV 510, 1 credit)
  • Vocal Ensemble Workshop: one semester (CNSV 542, 1 credit)
  • Performance Workshop (CNSV 570, 0 credits)
  • Recital Class: one semester (CNSV 545, 2 credits)
  • Graduation Recital (CNSV 575, 0 credit)

Bard Conservatory
Bard College
Conservatory of Music
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Annandale-on-Hudson
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All photos by Karl Rabe unless stated otherwise.