Program Overview

Voice

We develop young singers through intensive private voice lessons, regular vocal coaching, diction and language courses, pedagogy classes, and the study of music that spans opera, choral, and song, as well as collaborations with instrumental ensembles of all sizes. Students gain confidence, performance acumen, auditioning skills, and artistry across a broad repertoire. Voice students have many performance opportunities including fully staged opera productions presented in original languages, choral ensembles of various sizes, and solo appearances with instrumental ensembles. We prepare students for exceptional careers in opera, oratorio, recital, early music, and the music of today. Qualified advanced students may earn the Artist Diploma in vocal studies.

soprano soloist with chamber orchestra — Soprano and Concerto Competition winner Amber Monroe ’17 performs with the Oberlin Chamber Orchestra in Ricky Gordon’s "and flowers pick themselves."

Photo credit: Yevhen Gulenko

Program Facts

Program Type: Major, Minor
- Bachelor of Music (BM)
- Artist Diploma (ADip)
Division: Vocal Studies

Voice Department Chair

Timothy LeFebvre,
Professor of Voice

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opera theater show hansel and gretel with hansel and witch — Oberlin Conservatory students perform in Opera Theater’s "Hänsel und Gretel" in Hall Auditorium.

Photo credit: Yevhen Gulenko

Performance Opportunities

Choirs, vocal chamber music ensembles, and opera scenes and full-scale productions are the main performing avenues for vocal studies students. Oberlin Opera Theater presents two major productions with orchestra each academic year, in November and March. These are commonly double cast with each cast performing twice. Main-stage productions are from the standard repertory and have recently included Mozart's Le nozze di Figaro, Massenet's Cendrillon, Poulenc’s Dialogues of the Carmelites and Britten's The Turn of the Screw. Small-scale operas and new works have been presented in both traditional and nontraditional venues during Winter Term. Those productions are opportunities for students to experience what it's like to direct, create scenery and costumes, and serve as a dramaturg. For recent Winter Term projects, students have performed the Pulitzer Prize-winning opera Angel's Bone by Du Yun '01, Proving Up by Missy Mazzolli, and Harriet Tubman: When I Crossed that Line to Freedom by Nkeiru Okoye ’92. Students enrolled in opera classes also give performances of major opera scenes by composers such as Verdi, Puccini, Donizetti, and Tchaikovsky at the end of each semester.

Performance Ensembles