Where can i find opera singing lessons?

Question

I'm between age 15-18 and have always love singing opera.. It has been a dream of mine since i was 5 i wanted to be a professional opera singer, like Renee Fleming and Maria Callas..etc..

Could someone give me some web site address for some weekend classes, or private vocal tutoring with registered teachers... I have been search for like 3 months, but haven't had any luck.

Could someone help?

Answer 1

Hi, I've been singing opera for many years professionally, hope this will help. Most good teachers advise it is unwise to train a voice classically before the age of 18. This is because the cartillage which your voice box (larynx) is made of will not mature until then and permanent damage can be done if you are not careful. If you are under 18, you would be wise to take singing lessons privately with a proper qualified teacher (beware bad teachers, they can cause irreparable damage to a voice) who will not push your voice for your age. Phone the Incorporated Society of Musicians on 020 7629 4413 or check out www.ism.org to find a qualified, recommended teacher in your area. After that, to be taken seriously in opera, you will need to get into one of the big music colleges and do a degree or performance diploma in singing. This is because eventually you will need a CV and opera companies will judge your CV on the prestigiousness of the college you went to. However, this is incredibly expensive, fees can be thousands of pounds a year more than a normal university course. Don't forget there are many other things you will need to master as an opera singer - some fluency in Italian, French, German and another language such as Czech or Russian is usually necessary, and you will need to learn to act to a professional standard and possibly become reasonably good on the piano. Learning to read music to degree level is a must. At the end of all that, there is very little work in opera and competition is fierce, I still spend a few hundred pounds a month of my own money on singing lessons (good teachers charge around £60-£80 an hour in London) coaching sessions with pianists (around £40 an hour) and private language lessons (around £25 an hour). Unfortunately its often the wealthy that succeed! Hope that helps, if you are determined, then never give up, whatever anyone else says!

Answer 2

There's a music centre called Jackdaws in Frome, Somerset, which runs some great weekend courses with professional teachers and singers. You get great individual tuition in a masterclass style, so can pick up tips from what's being said to other singers too.

Full details on their website

Alternatively, does your school/college provide private music lessons? The music department is bound to have the numbers for a few local teachers - you don't have to commit yourself straight away, try a few out by going along for a consultation lesson, to see if you get on. Make it clear before you go that you're interested in opera.

And join a local amateur opera group to get some experience and learn the repertoire

Answer 3

Try checking the noticeboards in your local music shop for good singing teachers in your area. Look for ones with a teaching diploma, and ask the people in the store who they recommend.
A good singing teacher will introduce you to a lot of different music styles. They'll probably start you off with simpler styles (e.g. art songs), as opera is technically very demanding and if you haven't had lessons before, you'll need to build on the basics first (e.g. breathing properly, shaping you mouth etc.). Without a good grounding in these basics, it's a little like getting on a motorbike and doing stunts before learning to ride safely on the road.

Answer 4

you have to go to the music academy, you will need to learn the musical theory first, I don't know how many year it is in the UK but when i've done it abroad, it was 5 years + 2 years of specialisation just for the theory. You will learn to sing the notes, as in opera singing you don't read just a text, you've got the text under the note you need to sing.

Answer 5

Well, the good news is that women's voices mature later so you've got time to continue searching. A friend of mine studied at La Scala, she is Spanish and had studied first at their equivalent of the Royal Academy of Music, so i'd try to audition and get in there (the Royal Academy) first. Assuming that you are closer to 18 than 15?

Answer 6

Hi- Not sure if you are in the UK, but have you looked at this site: http://www.operafest.com/program.htm
Perafestival di Roma is an educational institution that offers opportunities to musicians from all nations to study and perform opera in Italy in the summer. It's quite something - three weeks of masterclasses, coaching, lessons in lyric diction, voice and conversational Italian.

Also have a look at http://www.metoperafamily.org/
if you are in the States - either way it is up to date on a lot of news.

Or OperaWorks. at www.operaworks.com

This might help: http://www.artsandkids.org.uk/events/region/sco

Here in the UK you could try any of these for YOUTH PROGRAMMS on offer:
http://www.opera.co.uk/
http://www.operanorth.co.uk/
http://www.eno.org/
http://www.glyndebourne.com/
http://www.wno.org.uk/
http://www.scottishopera.org.uk/cms/
http://info.royaloperahouse.org/Home/Index.cfm
http://www.englishtouringopera.org.uk/

And then there are the schools:
http://www.rsamd.ac.uk/music/vocal_studies.htm
http://www.rwcmd.ac.uk/vocal/index.asp


...and if you like ERIC ROBERTS:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/wales/northwest/sites/mystory/pages/ericroberts.shtml

Answer 7

Where do you live - London? Scotland? Italy? How far are you wiling to travel and how much are you willing to pay?
I am sure the Royal Academy of Music http://www.ram.ac.uk/ will teach you. They may be able to help you find somewhere else more local too if you don't want to travel there.

Answer 8

Call the music department of the universities in your city and ask for referrals to Opera Teachers.

Answer 9

1

Answer 10

HI,
Try looking for a teacher at a local college.
Call or email the music department.