The Juilliard School is a private performing arts conservatory in New York City. Founded by Frank Damrosch as the Institute of Musical Art in 1905, the school later added dance and drama programs and became the Juilliard School, named after its principal benefactor Augustus D. Juilliard.
The Curtis Institute of Music is a private conservatory in Philadelphia. It offers a performance diploma, a Bachelor of Music, Master of Music in opera, and a Professional Studies Certificate in opera. All students attend on a full scholarship. The Institute also offers needs based financial aid to help cover living expenses.
The State University of New York at Potsdam is a public college in Potsdam, New York. Founded in 1816, it is the northernmost member of the State University of New York (SUNY) system, it is composed of the College of Arts & Sciences, the School of Education and Professional Studies, and the Crane School of Music.
The Royal Irish Academy of Music (RIAM) in Dublin, Ireland, is one of Europe's oldest music conservatoires, specialising in classical music and the Irish harp. It is located in a Georgian building on Westland Row in Dublin. An institution which offers tuition from age 4 up to doctorate level, the RIAM has taught music performers and composers who have gone on to acclaim on the world stage. It is an associate college of the University of Dublin, Trinity College.
The Royal Conservatory of Music, branded as The Royal Conservatory, is a non-profit music education institution and performance venue headquartered in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was founded in 1886 by Edward Fisher as The Toronto Conservatory of Music. In 1947, King George VI incorporated the organization through royal charter. Its Toronto home was designated a National Historic Site of Canada in 1995, in recognition of the institution's influence on music education in Canada. Tim Price is the current Chair of the Board, and Peter Simon is the President.
Jessye Mae Norman was an American opera singer and recitalist. She was able to perform dramatic soprano roles, but did not limit herself to that voice type. A commanding presence on operatic, concert and recital stages, Norman was associated with roles including Beethoven's Leonore, Wagner's Sieglinde and Kundry, Berlioz's Cassandre and Didon, and Bartók's Judith. The New York Times music critic Edward Rothstein described her voice as a "grand mansion of sound", and wrote that "it has enormous dimensions, reaching backward and upward. It opens onto unexpected vistas. It contains sunlit rooms, narrow passageways, cavernous halls."
The Shanghai Conservatory of Music (SHCMusic) is a municipal public college in Shanghai, China. It is affiliated with the City of Shanghai and is part of the Double First-Class Construction. The college was founded on November 27, 1927.
Camilla Ella Williams was an American operatic soprano who performed nationally and internationally. After studying with renowned teachers in New York City, she was the first African American to receive a regular contract with a major American opera company, the New York City Opera. She had earlier won honors in vocal competitions and the Marian Anderson Fellowship in 1943–44.
Jake Heggie is an American composer of opera, vocal, orchestral, and chamber music. He is best known for his operas and art songs as well as for his collaborations with internationally renowned performers and writers.
John Wilton Nelson is an American conductor. His parents were Protestant missionaries.
Joyce DiDonato is an American opera singer and recitalist. A coloratura mezzo-soprano, she has performed operas and concert works spanning from the 19th-century Romantic era to those by Handel and Mozart.
Glen Paul Roven was an American two-time Emmy winning composer, lyricist, conductor and producer. He composed the music to "The Hillary Speeches" setting two of Mrs. Clinton's speeches to music which streamed opposite Trump's inauguration and featured opera stars Patricia Racette, Isabel Leonard, Nathan Gunn, Lawrence Brownlee, Mathew Polenzani, Kyle Ketelson, and twenty-three others. Other notable Roven compositions include a violin concerto based on the children's book The Runaway Bunny which was recorded by Sony narrated by Brooke Shields and recorded by GPRrecords narrated by Catherine Zeta-Jones. Another notable composition is "Goodnight Moon, An Aria for Singer and Orchestra" which the National Chorale performed at Geffen Hall in 2016. It was subsequently performed at Carnegie Hall, Alice Tully Hall, and the Kimmel Center. His Symphony No. 2 premiered at Geffen Hall (2018) and he produced with Universal Music Hopes and Dreams, The Carnegie Hall Lullaby Project with Catherine Zeta-Jones, Joyce DiDonato, Patti LuPone, Dianne Reeves, Fiona Apple, Natalie Merchant, Pretty Yende and more. The CD hit number one in both the Classical and Pop charts. He was creating the Poetry Curriculum for K-6 for the United States Public School System. He was working on a musical for Netflix written by and starring Dolly Parton. He was the Artist Director of Roven Records. On July 25, 2018, Roven died at the age of 61.
Lawrence Brownlee is an American operatic tenor particularly associated with the bel canto repertoire. Describing his voice, Speight Jenkins, general director of the Seattle Opera, said: "There are other singers that sing this repertory very well, but I don't think anyone else has quite as beautiful a sound and as rounded a tone," and praise his "incredible top notes", adding about his high F (F5) in "Credeasi, misera": "With him it's not a scream, it's a beautiful sound." Mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato adds: "He is always in service of the music. His natural instrument is just incredibly beautiful. The word 'honey' comes to mind. He also has technical prowess and agility."
Richard Torigi was an American baritone and voice teacher. He had an active singing career in operas, concerts, and musicals from the 1940s through the 1980s. While still performing, he embarked on a second successful career as a voice teacher which led to teaching positions at a variety of institutions, including the Juilliard School, the Eastman School of Music, and the Academy of Vocal Arts.
The University of Music and Performing Arts Graz, also known as Kunstuniversität Graz (KUG) is an Austrian university. Its roots can be traced back to the music school of the Akademischer Musikverein founded in 1816, making it the oldest university of music in Austria.
William Stephen“Steve”Smith is an American voice teacher, author and baritone singer. He is a professor of Voice and Opera at the Bienen School of Music of Northwestern University, voice faculty for the Ryan Opera Center of Lyric Opera of Chicago, voice faculty emeritus of the Aspen Music Festival and School and founder/director of the Naked Voice Institute.
Joyce El-Khoury is a Lebanese-Canadian opera singer performing with leading opera companies and symphony orchestras around the world. She is a soprano praised for her bel canto singing.
Passing By is a 73-minute studio album of contemporary art songs and duets composed by Jake Heggie, performed by Isabel Bayrakdarian, Zheng Cao, Joyce DiDonato, Susan Graham, Paul Groves, Keith Phares and Frederica von Stade with Dawn Harms (violin), CarlaMaria Rodrigues (viola), Emil Miland (cello) and Heggie himself at the piano. It was released in 2010.
Joyce Mathis was an American soprano who was a concert artist, recitalist, and opera singer from the 1960s into the early 1990s. She is considered a part of the first generation of black classical singers to achieve success in the United States; breaking down racial barriers within the field of classical music. She won several notable singing competitions, including the Marian Anderson Award in 1967 and the Young Concert Artists in 1968. In 1970 she recorded the role of the High Priestess in Verdi's Aida alongside Leontyne Price and Plácido Domingo. Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Ned Rorem wrote his song cycle Women's Voices for her in 1975. In 1976 she created the role of Celestina in Roger Ames's opera Amistad at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. She appeared frequently in performances with Opera Ebony and the Boys Choir of Harlem in addition to touring widely as a recitalist and concert soprano.
Key'mon Winkfield Murrah is an American countertenor singer. He has performed leading roles with many opera companies and concert venues, including Bavarian State Opera and the Los Angeles Opera.
