<p>Another aspect of this that would be interesting to explore is whether freshman voice lessons are taught by full professors or graduate students. I know that in even some of the top MT programs (e.g. UMich) freshman voice lessons are taught by grad students.</p>
<p>I will chime in for Webster MT:</p>
<p>When lessons start?</p>
<p>Private voice lessons begin 1st semester of freshman year</p>
<p>Length of lessons?</p>
<p>Voice lessons are 1 hour per week with the voice teacher and an additional 1 hour or 1/2 hour not sure every other week, with the Music director. Sounds like that is about specific coaching,which my daughter loves.</p>
<p>Extra costs involved?</p>
<p>included in tuition for MT’s, not sure about Acting BFA’s though</p>
<p>Belt/no belt policy?</p>
<p>My daughter’s is being taught classical voice. I don’t know if that means there is a no-belt policy, but the curriculum is clearly legit based for this year.</p>
<p>Anything else?</p>
<p>All voice is taught by professors…no grad students.</p>
<p>Freshman do not perform publicly at all freshman year. they may audition for dance production, if they would like to, though.</p>
<p>While we are at it, i will add that Webster does place students in the “right” dance classes for them. Everyone is not in the same class. There was no “placement” class…it seems that they made the initial placements on resume/application info and then tweaked from there. My daughter feels like they put her in the perfect classes…and she has many years of dance. </p>
<p>So far so good…</p>
<p>In case it helps folks find info for future reference…</p>
<p>********* VOICE LESSONS **********
BOCO - post #13
CCPA/ Roosevelt - #19
Coastal Carolina University - #16
Marymount Manhattan - #14
Webster MT - #22</p>
<p>******** DANCE CLASSES ************
Coastal Carolina University – Post #18
NYU - Tisch - #7
Oklahoma City University - #8
Webster MT - #22</p>
<p>Here’s my understanding of policies at Northwestern University. I hope others with experience at NU will chime in, as this is based on limited discussions with D, who has only been there a few weeks so far.</p>
<p>Keep in mind that NU is a BA/BS program in which many kids are double majoring, so individual course loads vary a lot.</p>
<p>There are auditions in September for Theatre students who would like vocal coaching (not all Theatre students are MTs). Some kids are offered free lessons with grad students, or at a small added cost (I think this year it’s $275) some kids are offered private coaches. Others are put on waiting lists. </p>
<p>There is also a special vocal class made available to a small group of freshman (this year I think it was 20). It is taught in groups of 4 (I think) by one of the Music School heads (I think), and from what I hear is primarily focusing on more legit work so far since his background is Opera.</p>
<p>At the end of freshman year, kids from both the Theatre and Vocal Performance departments may audition for a spot in the MT Certificate program. Accepted MT kids receive free private vocal coaching. </p>
<p>In addition to Voice lessons, a small group of kids (this year I think 18) are placed in an MT Workshop, where songs are performed for the group and worked on. </p>
<p>There is also a free Vocal Health assessment for those who want it.</p>
<p>It’s worth mentioning that A Cappella groups are a big deal at NU, and it seems that some vocal coaching happens there as well.</p>
<p>There are amazing private coaches in Evanston and Chicago that some kids opt to work with in addition to the NU lessons.</p>
<p>During Orientation the head of the Communications Department said that next year the Theatre Department is hiring dedicated MT voice teachers, so I don’t know how/if this will change the situation. </p>
<p>Freshman dance placement auditions also happen during the first week of classes. My impression is that there isn’t an orderly progression of classes offered, since course loads are so varied, so kids have to juggle schedules to get the dance classes they want. They are free to enroll in as many dance classes as they like (I’ve heard of kids doing as many as 3 classes per quarter, which is 6-9 classes per week).</p>
<p>As I say, I hope others can correct and/or add to this.</p>
<p>In case it helps folks find info for future reference…</p>
<p>********* VOICE LESSONS **********
BOCO - post #13
CCPA/ Roosevelt - #19
Coastal Carolina University - #16
Marymount Manhattan - #14
Northwestern - #24
Webster MT - #22</p>
<p>******** DANCE CLASSES ************
Coastal Carolina University – Post #18
Northwestern - #24
NYU - Tisch - #7
Oklahoma City University - #8
Webster MT - #22</p>
<p>Sorry… I missed an important one!</p>
<p>In case it helps folks find info for future reference…</p>
<p>********* VOICE LESSONS **********
BOCO - post #13
CCPA/ Roosevelt - #19
Coastal Carolina University - #16
Marymount Manhattan - #14
NYU/Tisch - #7
Northwestern - #24
Webster MT - #22</p>
<p>******** DANCE CLASSES ************
Coastal Carolina University – Post #18
NYU/Tisch - #7
Northwestern - #24
Oklahoma City University - #8
Webster MT - #22</p>
<p>I will add that Marymount voice teachers are vocal teachers in NYC. They teach kids at Marymount, NYU, etc. This year my D also has a class called that focuses on acting a song.</p>
<p>Marymount dance for MT students is 1 1/2 hours a day 5 days a week. MT students audition at the beginning of each year for dance placement.</p>
<p>Syracuse: MT students get a 30-minute weekly voice lesson beginning freshman year. They may opt for an hour-long lesson at an additional fee. Some lessons are taught by grad students or faculty in the music department, some are taught by theater faculty. Lessons taught by music department personnel tend to focus on classical technique, theater faculty focuses more on theater-style, which includes both classical and mix/belt singing. Students may change voice teachers if they wish – my D began with a grad student instructor who helped improve her legit technique, and then studied with a theater instructor who focused on her mix. She was already a strong belter, so this combination of different techniques was quite beneficial.</p>
<p>In addition, at Syracuse seniors have the option to study in NYC – this is called the Tepper Semester. In this case, they study with working professionals who are hired by the University. My D’s voice teacher was Victoria Mallory, who played the role of Anne in the original production of A Little Night Music. (My D is currently working out of the country, but when she’s in NYC she always schedules a few lessons with Victoria.)</p>
<p>********* VOICE LESSONS **********
BOCO - post #13
CCPA/ Roosevelt - #19
Coastal Carolina University - #16
Marymount Manhattan - #14, #27
NYU/Tisch - #7
Northwestern - #24
Syracuse - #28
Webster MT - #22</p>
<p>******** DANCE CLASSES ************
Coastal Carolina University – Post #18
Marymount Manhattan - #27
NYU/Tisch - #7
Northwestern - #24
Oklahoma City University - #8
Webster MT - #22</p>
<p>At UArts, all students receive a 30 minute private voice lesson (technique and song selection to expand range and genre) and 30 minute private vocal coaching lesson (song performance and selection of songs for auditions) each week for all semesters. This is in addition to Master Classes held once a week for all of the students of each particular voice teacher where students perform songs, are critiqued by their peers from all 4 years of the program who have the same teacher and the voice teacher with emphasis on the delivery of technique and performance. All of the voice classes are taught by regular faculty members. The private voice lessons are taught by voice teachers and the vocal coaching by faculty that serve as music directors at area professional theaters. There are also small group classes in musical theatre repertoire and performance. The vocal program is very strong. Students may also arrange for additional private lessons at additional cost directly with voice teachers but I don’t think many students in the MT program, if any, find this necessary.</p>
<p>At Carnegie Mellon students have hour long private voice lessons weekly. These lessons are with full-time faculty and start at the beginning of freshman year. They also take classes like Acting a Song and Cabaret singing. They also have a weekly Voice Lab where students sing for all the MTs (freshman class sings one week, sophomores the next, etc).</p>
<p>Adding UArts and Carnegie Mellon.</p>
<p>********* VOICE LESSONS **********
BOCO - post #13
Carnegie Mellon - #31
CCPA/ Roosevelt - #19
Coastal Carolina University - #16
Marymount Manhattan - #14, #27
NYU/Tisch - #7
Northwestern - #24
Syracuse - #28
UArts - #30
Webster MT - #22</p>
<p>******** DANCE CLASSES ************
Coastal Carolina University – Post #18
Marymount Manhattan - #27
NYU/Tisch - #7
Northwestern - #24
Oklahoma City University - #8
Webster MT - #22</p>
<p>Putting in my two cents for University of Northern Colorado - I am currently a freshman MT major so this is what I understand to be the basics!</p>
<p>When lessons start?
You receive private lessons your freshman and sophomore year both semesters and they are required as well as included in the tuition, each year is taught by a different teacher whom all the other students will have as well.
However, if you would like to continue with voice lessons through junior and senior year (which they recommend) you can continue taking them, but you have to pay.</p>
<p>Length of lessons?
45 minutes of privates
However in group voice classes (which you have every year and each semester) which still include individualized attention, they can be between 50 to 90 minutes depending on which day you have class.</p>
<p>Belt/no belt policy?
Freshman year we are taught strictly legit style (I believe it’s called the Alexander technique) in voice class and individual lessons. This is because it’s the basis for being able to sing healthy in any way (belting included) and strengthens not only your soprano but your belt eventually as well. Then sophomore year we start working on our mix/belt.</p>
<p>Chiming in for Shenandoah:</p>
<p>When lessons start? Private lessons begin Freshmen year</p>
<p>Length of lessons? Lessons are 1 hour all 8 semesters</p>
<p>Extra costs involved? There is a private lesson fee of $375 per semester</p>
<p>Belt/no belt policy? There is no formal policy. ShenCo is home of the Contemporary Commercial Music Vocal Pedagogy Institute, which basically means we have a summer workshop each year that attracts 100+ voice teachers and teaches them how to teach musical theatre voice, specifically belt and mix belt. Some of the voice faculty are more “legit” than belt and as of this year, there is an effort to match the more “legit” students and teachers. The voice faculty have been teaching musical theatre students for over 40 years and are used to fact that students need to belt and are willing to help for auditions or whenever that instruction is needed. The program puts a great emphasis on vocal health, so it is not unusual for the students to not belt for a period of time while the voice is balanced. The MT department also believes that all of the women must learn to sing in their head voice without airiness in order to be marketable, therefore students will spend as much time as necessary in legit rep to make that happen.</p>
<p>Anything else? The students have the same teacher for the first three years and then all switch to the same studio during their senior year where they learn to sing pop/rock (traditional MT repertoire is also included, but in most cases pop/rock is the emphasis). Last year the program implemented a musical theatre repertoire requirement that requires students to fill in over 50 slots covering everything from 2 Italian songs to 2 operetta arias, to tin pan alley, to Golden Age, to contemporary pop, and of course pop/rock/country/etc. This way all students leave with a solid book covering all of the periods of musical theatre history that they will encounter in the professional world. </p>
<p>With this mix of repertoire and teachers, all students leave the conservatory with formal instruction in legit, belt, and rock.</p>
<p>I would like to correct my post, at UNC we study strictly legit our freshman fall semester, then in spring semester we focus solely on mix/belt technique in privates and voice class.</p>
<p>Hello! I am going to chime in and give some information that I hope helps about being a current MTO student at BALL STATE UNIVERSITY.</p>
<p>Our voice lessons start week 1 of arriving as a freshman and they last 30 minutes long. You are assigned your own personal voice teacher and you stick with that vocal coach for all four years that you attend here so that they can really take time to know your unique voice and how it works and to build on what you already have.
You also have a 2 hour long masterclass vocal lab every week where you work in front of other students, that are taking with your voice teacher, to perform your repertoire and get more feedback on each selection.</p>
<p>Also: You get to sign up for a weekly time slot to spend time singing with your accompanist to get it performance ready.</p>
<p>Along with your individual private lesson you will also be required to take various sight singing, ensemble singing and singer actor classes.
At BALL STATE we work on a plethora of techniques and music styles from standard musical theatre to classical to even pop. (This list goes on.) :]</p>
<p>Hope this helps!
Feel free to ask any other questions!</p>
<p>very helpful kylerkays. Although I do see being with the same instructor I do feel there are also advantages to having different ones as well. I do have a question as I am sure sometimes it happens-what if you clash with that voice teacher or after a couple months you do not feel like you are compatible - is it possible to switch to another vocal instructor?</p>
<p>Broadway95 - I’m also an MT at Ball State! It is possible to switch voice teachers if there are any issues. This doesn’t happen often, but occasionally a student will just hit it off with another faculty member and they can request to switch studios. :)</p>
<p>Adding UNC, Shenandoah and Ball State.</p>
<p>********* VOICE LESSONS **********
Ball State - post #36
BOCO - #13
Carnegie Mellon - #31
CCPA/ Roosevelt - #19
Coastal Carolina University - #16
Marymount Manhattan - #14, #27
NYU/Tisch - #7
Northwestern - #24
Shenandoah - #34
Syracuse - #28
UArts - #30
U of Northern Colorado - #33, #35
Webster MT - #22</p>
<p>******** DANCE CLASSES ************
Coastal Carolina University – Post #18
Marymount Manhattan - #27
NYU/Tisch - #7
Northwestern - #24
Oklahoma City University - #8
Webster MT - #22</p>