<p>I am currently finishing up my undergrad and will be applying for graduate school next fall, however I'm beginning my search now. I am a large voiced, possibly, young (I'm currently 28) Verdi baritone. Haha although 28 is not young to be getting an undergrad it's still relatively young in the opera world. With all this in mind I am looking for an environment that would be good for my future as a performer. </p>
<p>Schools I've lightly investigated are:</p>
<p>University North Texas
University Missouri Kansas City
Cincinnati Conservatory (still unsure about that one to be honest)
Indiana University</p>
<p>I would appreciate any insight into these schools. I know that a couple of them have the reputation of being top notch but I'm interested in what they are currently like. </p>
<p>I know nothing about University of Missouri Kansas City, but my daughter took a workshop with the head of the opera program at University of Missouri Columbia, and she was fantastic, so you might want to look into that campus instead.</p>
<p>Patrick, at masters level you should be looking for a teacher you want to study with prior to looking at schools. Is your list predicated on teachers you want to work with?</p>
<p>I have done some minor investigating of teachers at both schools. Before I begin actually setting up lessons with them I wanted to know a bit about the schools as a whole.</p>
<p>I have a little knowledge of UMKC. It’s a urban campus, while there is housing the campus empties out on the weekends. Lots of locals take night classes for degree completion and grad school. The conservatory has been amping up in recent years. They had added Vinson Cole to the voice faculty. Attractive campus in a terrific area of the city.</p>
<p>Re UMKC- there have been some problems with the accompanists for the singers and I’ve heard rumblings of an impending shake-up that could impact the VP/Opera departments.
Nice campus and some great performance opportunities but the academics in the grad VP program are quite a bit less than challenging.
I think this one is going to be very dependent upon what one wants from a program, the teacher and how the problems are resolved.</p>
<p>It’s been a while since I’ve posted in this thread, hopefully somebody with some info will see this and be able to respond. I have added University of Washington to my list, specifically seeking information about Thomas Harper as a voice teacher. Anybody have anything?</p>
<p>I would suggest that you look at the New Forum for Classical Singers and ask questions about teachers and programs. You’ll find current and recent students there and can strike up some conversations.</p>