Every year the Pacific Voice Department admits a small and select group of young singers into the various degree programs in the Conservatory. Pacific voice students are trained by faculty members who have earned national reputations in the areas of performance and pedagogy. Because our voice department focuses exclusively on undergraduate training, we are able to give our students a lot of personal attention and abundant performing opportunities. Students experience a positive, supportive and nurturing environment which enhances learning and paves the way for personal discovery and growth.
Performance Opportunities
The Pacific Opera Theatre presents fully-staged productions yearly, ranging from opera and operetta to musical theater. Repertoire is chosen very carefully with the undergraduate singer in mind. Our productions have won national awards from the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival as well as the National Opera Association.
The Pacific Choirs offer three ensembles-Oriana Choir (an all-female ensemble), Pacific Singers and University Chorus. In addition to performing standard choral literature, Pacific choirs routinely join forces with the University Symphony Orchestra or professional organizations such as the Stockton Symphony in order to perform major works with orchestra.
The Conservatory sponsors Vocal Master Classes taught by notable professionals, giving students the opportunity to work with internationally recognized artists and teachers. Recent guests have included Linda Watson, Susanne Mentzer, Marni Nixon, Will Crutchfield, Jerold Siena, Malcolm McKenzie and Suzanna Guzman.
Students also perform regularly in studio classes, recitals and various competitions.
Curriculum
Vocal Performance majors receive specialized and intensive training that prepares them for entry into our country's best graduate vocal programs and professional careers. Examples of our distinctive, in-depth courses include:
- 2 full years of Opera Workshop (acting for singers)
- 2 full years of Lyric Diction classes, focusing on the Italian, German, French and English languages/repertoire; in addition, 4 semesters of conversational foreign language study
- Further interpretive and linguistic study in Vocal Coaching Course (for upper-division vocal performance majors)
- Individual coaching provided for preparation of Pacific Opera Theatre roles
- One-on-one vocal instruction with major teachers, including 1.5 hours of instruction per week for vocal performance majors during the junior and senior years
- Course in Vocal Pedagogy (study of the art and science of voice instruction)
Conservatory International Music Tour
Pacific Italian Summer Language Immersion Program
Graduate Programs
Certainly one of the most important testaments to the strength and distinctiveness of the voice department is the success of our graduates. When our students go on to graduate study, they routinely tell us how well-prepared they were in all aspects of their training at Pacific. This includes vocal technique, musicality, artistry, stage work, as well as their knowledge of music theory and music history. Our students have regularly been accepted into the nation's top graduate programs in voice. In addition, many of these students have received generous and/or full scholarship to attend these institutions. Some of these top graduate programs include: Academy of Vocal Arts, Cincinnati College Conservatory of Music, Indiana University, New England Conservatory, Manhattan School of Music, the Cleveland Institute of Music, Northwestern University, University of Southern California and others.
Opera Apprentice/Training Programs
One of the ways our country's brightest and best young singers prepare to launch their professional careers is to take part in an Opera Apprentice and/or Training Program. The number of apprentice programs available in this country is very limited. It is extremely difficult to get into these programs and only a small handful of young singers are chosen nationally to participate in these programs each year. Pacific graduates have been invited to participate in the following programs:
- Music Academy of the West
- San Francisco Opera Merola Program
- Santa Fe Opera Apprentice Program
- Opera San Jose Apprentice Program
- Florida Grand Opera Young Artist Studio
- Palm Beach Opera Young Artist Studio
- Central City Opera Apprentice Program
- Boston University Opera Institute
- San Jose Opera Apprentice Program
Professional Opera Companies
Pacific voice alumni have gone on to perform roles with the following opera companies/music festivals:
- Metropolitan Opera
- San Francisco Opera
- Deutsche Oper Berlin
- Bayreuth Festival
- Opera Theatre of St. Louis
- Santa Fe Opera
- Florida Grand Opera
- Palm Beach Opera
- Central City Opera
- Boston Lyric Opera
- Fort Worth Opera
- Opera Aperta (Boston)
- Western Opera Theater
- Utah Festival Opera
- San Francisco Opera Center
- Seoul Contemporary Opera Company (Seoul, Korea)
- Brevard Music Festival
Music Performance, Voice, Faculty
Daniel Ebbers
Professor of Voice and Chair of Music Performance
James Haffner
Associate Professor of Opera
Virginia Warnken Kelsey
Assistant Professor of Practice in Voice
Burr C. Philips
Associate Professor of Voice