<p>Hey, singers and singers' parents -
HS Soph son, gifted tenor and doing very well in State chorus solo competitions, would love to go to a summer program for voice. We're looking at BUTI, Interlochen, the Washington Opera, and Walnut Hill. Any takes on these from those who've been there? Are they worth the considerable expense, in your experience? And any sense of how generous they are in the financial aid areas? Important to us, especially with college looming. Are tenors a drag on the market, or? And any further suggestions for programs cheerfully accepted.</p>
<p>What does his private voice teacher say? Personally, I think if finances allow for either an expensive summer program or private lessons, I would go with the private lessons, unless there is a question as to whether he wants to be a voice major and then the summer program may inform that decision.</p>
<p>His voice teacher isn't familiar with stuff at this level; the only summer programs she knows are for older, college age or post-grad singers. And she doesn't teach in the summers. The voice major question is important; the finances don't allow for much, alas.</p>
<p>At most programs, good tenors are in shorter supply than all the other voice parts, particularly sopranos. Tanglewood is an incredible program and I have heard many kids say that it either convinced them that they had to be a music major or convinced them that they wanted to do something else. Either way, it is good to know. They do provide some financial aid, but I can't tell you how likely you are to get any of it. Unfortunately, the application is not cheap, involving an application fee plus producing an audition recording or making a trip to a live audition.</p>
<p>If you are going to do a live audition, you should try to schedule it very soon. The slots fill up very quickly and may already be entirely booked is some cities.</p>
<p>When applying to Tanglewood, you will not find out whether he has been accepted until sometime in April. By then it will be too late to apply to most other programs, so you may want to think about applying to a few different ones over the next several weeks, kind of like applying to reach, match and safety colleges. Unfortunately, that also gets kind of expensive.</p>
<p>My daughter did Washington National Opera and it gave her a good idea on what conservatory life would be like. There are 2 performances with a possible 3rd if picked for the Kennedy Center. This program was far less expensive then the other that I found. If you google it you can see the videos of the Kennedy Center performances from all the years.</p>
<p>As for as quality of $'s spent - you are best off investing in voice lessons, but kids like the fun, variety and comradery of these programs - being with other vocalists that share the same interests,etc.</p>
<p>I would also suggest auditioning for Dolora Zajick's Institute for Young Dramatic Voices (google it) - this one is free and fabulous if he can get in.</p>
<p>Beware of a summer program which requires too much singing, particularly choral institutes.....you do not want your young singer exhausted vocally when the fall starts (or ever!) Ongoing voice lessons, perhaps some piano lessons, study of a foreign language (maybe one of the language camps, isn't there a series in Minnesota?) would be a safer use of singer's energy and effort. Changing voice teachers has its own adjustment problems, and if things are going well, it is a better idea to stick with the establishing technique. IMHO.....</p>
<p>there's a program in hawaii called the hawaii performing arts festival that has some of the best vocal faculty you'll find in a summer performing arts festival. I attended last summer and will be attending this summer again. Last summer the vocal faculty consisted of Juliana Gondek, Jennifer McGregor, Val Underwood, henry Price, Robin Buck, Agatha Carubia and the composer in residence was Ricky Ian Gordon. There are all ranges of ages there as well, a few high scool students, many college students, and a few professionals. The experience really places you in the feeling of an opera company and with lots of voice classes, diction classes, vocal coachings and performance experience it's really great. Plus it's not that expensive for 3 weeks in Hawaii.</p>
<p>D/D currently a sophomore, went to Interlochen last year for the choral and operetta program and loved every minute. We were very concerned about vocal fatigue but she had absolutely no problem, perhaps because of good technique and knowing when to rest her voice. Her singing improved and she became more confident of herself over the summer. We met several families that were attending with financial aid and the aid is more linked to financial need rather than merit (you have to send tax forms etc). If the 6week program is too many $$ then there is a 4 week solo program that is also great, supposedly more competitive but I'm not sure if that is really true. Also, you don't need to go overboard with the audition DVD. Home video is fine as long as the audio is OK. Try to use a good external microphone on the camcorder and you will be fine. Good tenors are always welcome in high school vocal programs.</p>
<p>Less expensive than Interlochen on a per-week basis is a program for solo vocal artists at Westminster choir college in New Jersey. We strongly considered it and also attended their final recital; it was very good, the level was pretty similar to the Interlochen final solo recitals. D/D may go there this summer..don't know yet.</p>
<p>Interlochen is much more exciting and fun in the summertime, than Westminster, though. By far.</p>
<p>Anyone ever attended the Brevard summer program?</p>
<p>Rudysmom, no experience with Brevard, but for cello (also violin and viola, limited piano) you might check Meadowmount (if you've not already done so). Applications and CDs are due earlier than some programs - end of January maybe?</p>
<p>If a music program allows yo to use your work over the summer in lieu of an audition senior year, then it is very much worth the money!!!</p>