Be mentored by living legends: The Verbier Festival Academy 2020

Location:
Verbier, Switzerland

Programme Dates:
July 12, 2020 – August 3, 2020

Application Deadline:
November 15, 2019

Application Fee
$50 USD

Live Auditions:
London, Montreal, Munich and New York: November/December 2019

The Verbier Festival Academy’s Atelier Lyrique is unique among voice programmes in Europe. Singers are accepted for either or both of the Atelier’s Opera and/or Song Programmes. They are mentored by living legends of opera and art song performance, among them in 2020 are Brigitte Fassbaender, Barbara Frittoli and Thomas Quasthoff. Singers also work with and are coached by collaborative pianists and vocal coaches Caroline Dowdle and James Baillieu, who lead the Opera and Song Programmes respectively. There will be opportunities for additional coaching with Ken Noda, Music Advisor of the Lindemann Young Artist Development Program at New York’s Metropolitan Opera, injury prevention instruction with vocologist Diego Cossu, as well as Italian-language training with Emma Abbate, Professor at the Guildhall School of Music and coach at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden.

Seven singers take part in the Atelier Lyrique’s Opera Programme and six to eight singers take part in its Song Programme; singers who are assigned secondary roles in the Atelier Lyrique’s opera of study are normally accepted to a combination Opera/Song Programme. The Academy arranges auditions and meetings with conductors, managers, casting directors, as well as successful peers who can share what it takes to make a career today. It also provides coaching in preparation for auditions, roles and competitions. Atelier Lyrique training is offered in English.

Opera Programme
After nearly three weeks of vocal, language and stagecraft coaching and public masterclasses, singers in the 2020 Atelier Lyrique's Opera Programme give a semi-staged performance of Puccini's La Bohème on the final afternoon of the Festival’s mainstage programme in collaboration with the Verbier Festival Junior Orchestra conductor Stanislav Kochanovsky. Some singers may be invited to perform alongside international artists in the Festival’s evening mainstage opera, Mozart's Don Giovanni, with the Verbier Festival Chamber Orchestra and its Music Director Gábor Takács-Nagy.

Song Programme
Repertoire choice is free although singers are encouraged to bring a variety of songs in different languages and styles. Students can expect to work through six to eight songs in the various masterclasses and will have the opportunity to work on other repertoire in coaching sessions. They are advised to bring groups of songs in German, English (British and American) and French, but are also encouraged to prepare songs in their choice of languages. Singers will perform in a recital as part of the Festival’s afternoon mainstage programme, as well as a thematic late-night concert on the Unlimited programme.