Wednesday, Jun 10, 2015
The Westminster CoOPERAtive Program, an intensive operatic training program, will welcome aspiring singers and accompanists to Princeton Sunday, June 28 through Saturday, July 18.
Opera lovers are invited to attend an array of free recitals, concerts and master classes featuring talented singers and accompanists from around the world who are taking the next step in their operatic careers.
The public events include operatic aria concerts, featuring participants performing arias from familiar and not-so-well-known operas on Wednesday, July 1 at 7:30 p.m.; Friday, July 3 at 8:30 p.m.; Wednesday, July 8 at 7:30 p.m.; Friday, July 10 at 7:30 p.m.; Wednesday, July 15 at 7:30 p.m., and Saturday, July 18 at 2 p.m. in Bristol Chapel on the Westminster Choir College campus. Students will also present intimate art song recitals on Saturday, July 4; Saturday, July 11; and Friday, July 17 at 7:30 p.m., also in Bristol Chapel.
Some of the most influential people in the operatic field today to serve on the CoOPERAtive faculty, who open some master classes for the public to observe. This year, program participants will perform in master classes with Susan Ashbaker, master coach and artistic advisor to the CoOPERAtive Program, on Sunday, July 28 at 7:30 p.m. and Kathleen Kelly, coach/conductor of opera at University of Michigan, on Monday, July 6 at 7:30 p.m. Both are in Hillman Performance Hall in the Marion Buckelew Cullen Center and are free and open to the public.
To celebrate the CoOPERAtive Program’s 10th year, Westminster will also host “An Evening of Arias and Appetizers” on Monday, July 13 at 7:30 p.m., also in the Marion Buckelew Cullen Center’s Hillman Performance Hall. The event will include a master class with renowned soprano Christine Goerke and light refreshments. The event is free and open to the public, but reservations are required. For reservations, call Marci Risch at 609-896-5033.
About Westminster’s CoOPERAtive Program
Students enrolled in the CoOPERAtive Program receive private coaching, focusing on operatic style, performance techniques, dramatic presentation, language and diction and body awareness, as well as resume and application advice. Directed by Westminster voice faculty members Laura Brooks Rice and Christopher Arneson, the program is presented in cooperation and consultation with professionals in the field of opera. It is designed to help young singers and pianists prepare for the essential next step toward acceptance into an advanced young artist or summer apprentice program. Graduates of this program have been finalists in the Metropolitan Opera Council’s National Auditions and have gone on to work with opera companies throughout the United States.
The Program offers three tracks based on participants’ experience and area of interest. The CoOPERAtive Fellows track is for graduate students to post-graduate young professionals, and features customized schedules based on each singer’s particular needs as he or she prepares for future auditions and competitions. The CoOPERAtive Young Artists track is for undergraduate voice majors in their junior or senior year. In addition to coaching and performing operatic arias, coaching and the performance of art song is a major part of the Young Artist experience. The CoOPERAtive Pianist Interns track is for pianists interested in exploring the many facets of operatic accompanying and coaching.