I’m looking for a summer musical program for my daughter with an emphasis on vocals. She is 14 years old and starting high school next year (currently 8th grade). She has been taking voice lessons for several years with the last few being through a local University (Community School of Music). She is in classical training and a soprano. (Disclaimer - she started voice lessons when she was younger through a small dance studio and I didn’t realize that it was a bad idea due to her age. After a few years of lessons, I was concerned that D was developing bad habits and switched her to a different teacher to protect her voice.) She loves to sing and has been singing all of her life. She has been involved with musical theatre since kindergarten, mostly Jr. productions but has also had some smaller ensemble roles with larger (mostly adult) productions. She sings wherever she’s asked (mostly church, but also civic groups, schools, community activities). Her main interests are voice, musical theatre, and church.
Are there any music programs for vocalists that she could attend during the summer for her age? Most summer ‘fun’ music camps around our area are no longer appropriate and she doesn’t enjoy them. I would also like for her to experience what a typical music student would experience in a college setting. We live in Alabama and I’m comfortable with travel through a few states in any direction, but would prefer it to be close to our state. Thank you!
@momofmusic , check out U of Miami-Frost School of Music. My son attended. It was ten days long, reasonable cost, and covered a number of vocal styles including classical and jazz. Also had some music theory. He enjoyed it and made some great friends there. I think it was a good introductory program for someone who is thinking about studying voice in college and wants to see what its about.
@momofmusic I would also suggest Oklahoma City University…they have a Vocal Arts summer program (2 weeks…classical) and a high school MT program (3 weeks). They can be done alone or combined into a 5 week program, and all the summer faculty are the college faculty. Not too long or too far, but lots of bang for the buck.
She’s probably a bit young for it this summer, but if she continues with the classical training, in a year or two you should look at Brevard in North Carolina.
I am going to do something that I have avoided for years and suggest avoiding a program, and unfortunately, it’s the place that @dramasopranomom mentioned. While the VP faculty for the OCU program are great, the same can’t be said for their MT folks who work with the summer session. I know of several young singers who returned home with major throat damage or who withdrew early due to the unreasonable amount of hours spent singing.
Should anyone have questions, please feel free to PM me.
She can have private voice lessons, perform in a couple of musicals, take all kinds of dance classes and do visual arts when she isn’t honing her performance skills. Great place for girls who are interested in singing and musical theater. Strong programs for music (instrumental, voice), dance, theater, and visual arts with a lot of summer fun baked in.
My only caution here would be that a 14 year old is not ready developmentally to know what she wants to do in college or in life. One of my kids was a “wunderkind” dancer at a very early age, danced in adult company productions and, despite my efforts to slow things down, honor all aspect of her personality and all paths possible ahead, too many people around her assumed her future was dance, and it was not helpful to her in the long run. Once she was at an age to know herself, she wanted to be useful and is working with autistic children.
My musician made the decision to follow that path at a much older age, an age when her own agency was the main driver.
This may not be appropriate at all to your situation, but I would not yet try to expose a 14 year-old to anything in order to experience what a college music environment would be like. It’s way too early.
There is plenty of time
There are others on here who know a lot about voice and I am not one of them, so my comments are general (and hard-earned).
@momofmusic There are lots of great vocal programs around… and I would maybe do a “really good” camp this year and then set your sights on the fancier programs (Brevard, Berklee, Interlochen and others) over the next couple of summers. Voices are not fully developed until people are in their 20s and 30s, so above all, avoid strain. For that reason, focus more on primarily choral programs for now, and next summer start looking for a camp that balances choral and solo opportunities.
University of Georgia has Summer Music Camp and Summer Music Institute (the latter requires a video audition) – very reasonably priced, and with excellent teachers, plus not far from you. SMC definitely still has room, and SMI might too. Even closer to Alabama, Encore Choral Camp at Clayton State University is very good, too, – and the kids sing at Spivey Hall for their final concert. You might also check and see if anything is available at Columbus State’s Schwob School of Music. Apparently Loyola in New Orleans has a great music program so they might have something, too, not far from you. And definitely check and see if there are any programs at Belmont or Vanderbilt in Nashville. For future summers, Kansas State University also has a weeklong Summer Choral Institute that is free to attend if you get in – deadline has already passed this year.
Some others – a litte farther away – that haven’t been mentioned above yet: Oberlin Vocal Academy; Schmidt Vocal Institute at Miami University in Oxford, OH; Boston Conservatory, NEC; Eastman Music Horizons; Westminster Choir College; Manhattan School of Music; Curtis Vocal Institute; and Tanglewood. Don’t be afraid of pricey programs like Interlochen; many of them have need and merit based scholarships. (My daughter’s friend who plays a brass instrument got a full ride to Interlochen this year, and while some portion may have been need-based, a substantial part was merit. Scholarships may be less available to voice performers, and even less to a soprano, but you never know!)
Wanted to add that there were “tracks” to choose from at Ithaca, and that the Ithaca VP professors ran the program. They featured choral, opera, a cappella divisions as well as mini courses on music theory, sight singing, conducting, etc… Gave her a great taste of what life in music school would be like. She also did a U of Michigan summer program, and it was not as dynamic, though she did get a feel for SMTD and U of M. There was not direct contact with the SMTD faculty, aside from one coach.
@momofmusic My S loved the Contemporary Vocal Institute at Westminster/Rider and did that after Soph. and Jr. years of HS. Did a similar program at Berklee last summer (after Jr. year) but it was not as good an experience for him, cost a lot more, and it was a shorter program. He has a lot of interests and didn’t want to do more than two weeks of “vocal camp” (and the cost mounts up with these things!) but there are multiple week options at both of the programs my S did. I would agree with others who have cautioned not to over do it though. If your kid has done a lot of singing during the school year, resting over the summer is probably the best course for a young singer.
I do, My D attended summer of 2016. I believe @khill87 D will also be attending OVA this summer. It was a wonderful confidence changer program for her.
@3gigglinggirls Yes – my D is going to Oberlin Vocal Academy this summer, too! She is really excited about experiencing Oberlin… We toured last summer when she was on her way to a different summer program, and she LOVED the school and the town, but didn’t get a chance to meet any faculty – the program had just ended a day or two before our visit. I’ll PM you so we can exchange some info that will help the girls be on the lookout for each other!
My D is also going to Tanglewood this summer… Anyone else?
