<p>If the voice faculty is good or not? My daughter has an audition at our state school and I went to the web site to check out the faculty. They look fine to me. But what am I looking for really? They have made the requisite appearences at the Met and were taught at Julliard but what really makes a good program? The school by the way is U of I -Urbana. I really like the school. But what do I know? lol</p>
<p>Find out what their recent students are up to. Are they working? Where? Most programs like to publicize the success of their recent grads. Just because someone was taught at Juilliard or sang at the Met, does not make them a good teacher.</p>
<p>During the two decades where Rudolph Bing was managing the Met, there was a big push to hire American singers, hence the number of folks who are able to put, “Sang at the Metropolitan Opera” on their resumes! Also, there were far fewer conservatories than there are now and gaining admission to them was a lot easier than it is now- case in point, Frederica von Stade got into Mannes as a VP major never having taken a voice lesson before walking in and enrolling on the spot!
An important question to ask is where the graduates are attending graduate school and the percentage from each class who are accepted into grad programs and the percentage of students in the program who actually graduate in 4 years as opposed to the number who enter as freshmen. It all boils down to numbers- if a kid spends 4 years at a school and then is unable to go on, what was it all for?
Also, ask if the teacher is actively performing? While that’s not quite as much of a problem for older, grad students who can handle more singing in a week, cramming make-up lessons into the schedules of undergrads can cause unnecessary stress on their voice. Some schools, including UI-CU have a faculty member or two on the masthead who travel extensively and spend weeks or months at a time in rehearsal and performing.They look great and add prestige but are often much better for master classes.</p>
<p>Oh wait…Nathan Gunn is there. I don’t know what kind of teacher he is, but I know who I would study with. LOL ;)</p>
<p>He’s gorgeous, musica, but he’s away more than he’s there! He’s been singing a lot more in Europe and has been spending lengthy periods there because of rehearsals required for premiers. His master classes are great (oh, and his wife, Julie, is his accompanist) but in my opinion, young singers need teachers who are on campus more regularly.</p>
<p>Dradsmom…you do understand that a winky face and LOL implies a joke?</p>