The Master of Music in Vocal Coaching at Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³» prepares collaborative pianists and musician-coaches for successful careers in opera, musical theater, and higher education through intensive training in coaching, collaboration, and performance. Working closely with voice faculty, conductors, directors, and singers, students develop advanced skills in repertoire preparation, diction, sight-reading, score study, rehearsal techniques, and stylistic interpretation. Through individualized mentorship and extensive practical experience, graduates emerge as versatile and highly skilled collaborative artists equipped for the demands of today's professional music industry.
As part of the Wanda L. Bass School of Music, vocal coaching students benefit from a uniquely rich performance environment that combines exceptional training in both opera and music theater. Students regularly collaborate with singers and production teams through the Oklahoma Opera & Music Theater Company (the world's oldest campus troupe dedicated to both opera and music theater) and gain hands-on experience supporting rehearsals, coachings, lessons, and performances. Surrounded by a vibrant artistic community and hundreds of annual performance opportunities, graduates leave Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³» prepared to excel as vocal coaches, collaborative pianists, music directors, and educators in a wide range of professional and academic settings.
| Program of Study | Credit Hours: | 32 | ||||||
| Required Courses: (projected semester rotation subject to change) | 17 | |||||||
| MUS 5113 Theory in Perspective (fall) or | 3 | |||||||
| MUS 5163 Analytical Techniques (fall) or | 3 | |||||||
| MUS 5133 Nineteenth-Century Analysis (fall) | 3 | |||||||
| MUS 5153 The Performing Teacher-Scholar (fall) | 3 | |||||||
| MUS 5213 Twentieth Century Music, Style, and Structure (spring) | 3 | |||||||
| MUS 5372-5472 Applied Music: Major Performance Medium | 8 | |||||||
| One of the following courses (except vocal performance and guitar performance): | 3 | |||||||
| MUS 5623 Orchestral Literature Seminar (spring) or | 3 | |||||||
| MUS 5723 Organ Literature Seminar (spring, odd) or | 3 | |||||||
| MUS 5823 Keyboard Literature Seminar (spring, odd) or | 3 | |||||||
| MUS 5923 Wind Literature Seminar (spring) or | 3 | |||||||
| Vocal Performance: Two of the following courses are required: | 4 | |||||||
| MUS 5422 Vocal Literature Seminar 1: German Lieder (fall, odd) | 2 | |||||||
| MUS 5532 Vocal Literature Seminar 2: French Melodies (spring, even) | 2 | |||||||
| MUS 5632 Vocal Literature Seminar 3: Italian and Spanish Song (fall, even) | 2 | |||||||
| MUS 5732 Vocal Literature Seminar 4: Songs in English (spring, odd) | 2 | |||||||
| Other Requirements: | 11 - 12 | |||||||
| MUS 6071 Recital | 1 | |||||||
| MUS 6072 Graduate Comprehensive Review Project | 2 | |||||||
| MUS 5102 Musicological Methods (fall) | 2 | |||||||
| Electives | 6 - 7 | |||||||
Audition: Candidates typically perform an on-campus vocal coaching audition. The audition will take place with vocalists provided by the Bass School of Music. The audition will include the following elements: two contrasting art songs, an aria from the standard operatic repertoire, a selection from the musical theater repertoire, sight reading.
The audition will include the following elements:
The selections chosen should represent the range of the applicant’s skills and abilities. Specific audition programs (except sight reading) will be determined in advance in consultation with the program director, and a rehearsal with the singer(s) will be scheduled prior to the audition. Prior to the audition, submission of supporting materials, including c.v., portfolio of performances, recordings, etc., is encouraged.
Interview: MM Vocal Coaching applicants will interview with the vocal coaching faculty by appointment.
Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»'s Oklahoma Opera and Music Theater Company is the world's oldest campus troupe dedicated to both opera and music theater and has won multiple awards, most recently at the 2017 National Opera Association Production Competition. Dr. David Herendeen, director of opera and music theater since 1997, won awards for three different productions in a single season — the first time one director has done so.
On April 4, 1930, Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³» presented its first musical production: Gilbert and Sullivan's "HMS Pinafore." As Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»'s talent pool and audiences grew over the next two decades, the university established the Oklahoma Opera and Music Theater Company. In 1951, it mounted the first of what has become 74 consecutive seasons of fully staged productions.
After hundreds of performances of 170 different operas and musicals, we look back in gratitude at the half-million people who have attended shows on campus or on one of our international tours. We realize that the best way to build on the successes of the past is to confidently embrace the future. Our audiences enjoy the nation's most dynamic young performers, innovative stagings, and a repertoire that combines the comfort of the familiar with the thrill of the unexplored.
The Wanda L. Bass School of Music is proud to offer Graduate Assistantships in the following areas:
Graduate Assistantships include a full tuition waiver and stipend.
Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»'s graduate assistantships require ongoing ensemble participation and are contracted for 10 hours, which provides our graduate students with the freedom to pursue practice time, gigging, competitions, and projects.
