<p>So - my D is a "legit" soprano, and interested in both MT and VP programs.</p>
<p>Some questions:
1. Is it bad to let schools know this? Is it possible, especially if we travel, to do both auditions on the same day, and if so, is this looked down on by admission folks?</p>
<ol>
<li><p>What are the chances for a soprano in MT? </p></li>
<li><p>What programs does anyone recommend, especially for great voice training and thinking that she probably (at least right now) is more interested in performing in MT than opera?</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Whether she can audition for both (or how it will impact a school’s perception) will vary from school to school.</p>
<p>Where I teach (JMU) students may audition for both the School of Music (BM) and the School of Theatre and Dance (BA) on the same day. The auditions are completely separate, and auditioning for one does not influence the decision for the other. </p>
<p>However, very few who audition for both are admitted to both. The programs are looking for very different things. The SOM has an option for a BM with an emphasis in MT or VP. The School of T&D houses the MT program. Students in the SOM MT program take a few dance classes, an acting class a few theatre classes, and a few musical theatre classes in the School of T&D. Majors from the School of T&D take music and voice in the SOM. Lots of crossover in classes, and opportunities for all students to audition for musicals, operas, and plays. There may be other schools where this is possible, so that it a good question to ask of the schools you are looking at.</p>
<p>NYU Steinhardt and OCU are good schools to look at for students who want to maintain classical graduate school as an option.</p>
<p>In musical theatre even “legit” singers really need to find their “belt” sound. Some MT programs will look for this versatility in the incoming students. Almost all will look for the potential to develop both a more “legit” and “belt” sound. Sopranos can make terrific belters. Listen to Judy Kuhn sing Cosette in Les Miz and Florence in Chess, for an example. </p>
<p>What schools are you looking at? Many here will know the culture and the opportunities for cross over between VP and MT at schools. </p>
<p>I know when we were at Shenandoah there were a couple students auditioning for MT and VP. Also a friend of my D’s auditioned for MT at Otterbein and was offered VP so I would imagine you can audition for both at the same time. She just finished her sophomore year there and loves it.</p>
<p>Some of the schools where there is some degree of cross-over between MT and Opera/VP and/or a BM program for MT that you may want to consider include:</p>
<p>Shenandoah
Northwestern
NYU Steinhardt
Wichita State
Arizona State
James Madison
Baldwin-Wallace
Catholic University
Florida State
Oklahoma City
Belmont
Indiana
Sam Houston
Nebraska Wesleyan</p>
<p>Very successful sopranos recently on Broadway include Katie Rose Clark and Kelli O’Hara.</p>
<p>My daughter just finished her sophomore year at Steinhardt, NYU as a vocal performance, MT major. Kids are admitted as Vocal Performance and later declare their emphasis in either opera or musical theater, although take most classes together and audition for opera and MT shows. Look pu info under the NYU Steinhardt strand at the top of the page. She also has a daily description in the ‘day in the life of’ strand if you can locate it. Tisch NYU has the Musical Theater training uder the theater department, but you can only apply to one school at NYU when you apply . . .</p>
<p>Thanks to everyone for the links and comments so far. A couple of these programs are already on her radar - notably NYU Steinhardt and Belmont. Any thoughts on the Hartt school at U Hartford? It appears they have degrees on both. Also - very long shot but one she visited and loved - CCM, which has both?
Thanks again!</p>
<p>Regarding your question about CCM, the drama, musical theatre, and vocal performance degrees and departments are all separate with no crossover.</p>
<p>lcoulter32724, I think you will find the threads that EmsDad linked for you extremely helpful. But, to add to those, my D is a legit soprano, with a good mix but not much of a belt to speak of, and the programs we found that were good for legit voices were NYU-Steinhardt, OCU, and Indiana. However, we also found a number of schools where the VP professors teach the students voice (like BoCo and Ithaca). At Ithaca, the MT kids and the VP kids can and do audition for both operas and musicals. CMU also has great programs in both VP and MT, but I don’t think there is much crossover there. When you are looking into schools, ask who teaches the kids voice (is it the VP profs, graduate students, or MT profs?), and also ask how often VP kids are in musicals and MT kids are in operas. I think OCU has the most flexible crossover program, and the kids are really mixed…it’s a fabulous program. </p>
<p>My D ended up choosing Ithaca over BoCo, NYU-Steinhardt, and OCU for a variety of reasons…but, she also really liked the fact that she could audition for the operas. PM me if you want more info.</p>
<p>I would add Montclair, where it is not uncommmon for MT kids to audition and get into operas if they are interested (see recent entry into Freshman Experience thread). Lots of potential cossover between MT/VP…</p>
<p>Look at Rider. My daughter just graduated from there. She is a gorgeous legit soprano with a fierce belt. When she auditioned she showed them one of each and they “got” her immediately.</p>
<p>D also knows a recent grad of UMich who entered as an MT and came out with a strong interest in opera, and I think he was cast in operas while there, so while I don’t know details I think there may be crossover opportunities there as well.</p>
<p>A legit soprano is a classically trained voice such as you would hear in an opera. Think head voice and very high vocal range. It sounds very different than your average choir kid singing the same notes. </p>
<p>My understanding is that the term legit goes back to the days of Vaudeville…which I guess was not at the time considered “legit”. My D started with classical training and that was her teachers story. No idea if it’s accurate.</p>
<p>Someone asked about Hartt. Hartt does not seem to encourage crossover between MT and VP. MTs may not audition for operas. Not sure if VPs can audition for musicals, but my VP D certainly felt constrained. I believe there is little to no overlap between the VP and MT voice teachers. My info is secondhand and may be flat out wrong, but these were my D’s impressions…</p>
<p>You should really look into Baldwin-Wallace. They are great with their BM in MT and they are very strong vocally and I remember when I auditioned some girl said she was in an opera but I may have misheard.</p>
<p>A colleague of mine’s D graduated from B-W a while back (maybe 7 years or so ago?). She had initially wanted MT, but was encouraged to apply VP, which she did. I recall her being in more than one opera, and I believe it was in the city – not a school performance. (She also spent a semester in Italy – what a great place to study opera!!)</p>