High School Vocal Arts Studio
A year long Classical Voice Development Program
The
High School Vocal Arts Studio
(Vocal Arts Studio) is a
year-long voice-development program
that targets inner-city, economically disadvantaged high school students
of all ethnic-cultural backgrounds and diversities in the Houston’s
inner-city. The Vocal Arts Studio
prepares these students for professional careers in classical music, and
this training make them better prepared for their intensive collegiate vocal
curriculum. These students are
naturally talented; they are vocally gifted; they are passionate in their
desire for voice lessons; and so, have deep desires for classical vocal
training.
However, these students are from low-income families, from
a one-parent family, or from foster families whose parent(s) cannot afford
to pay for private voice lessons, which can be as much as $300.00 per month.
At such a cost, these students are automatically denied the opportunity to
receive this much needed classical vocal training at such an important stage
of their vocal development.
The majority of Houston’s inner-city schools place
emphasis and support for marching bands, concert bands, and string orchestra
programs; however, there very few schools placing any emphasis on full
classical vocal training and development programs like Singing From The
Soul’s Vocal Arts Studio. While Choral Programs do exist, they are
not heavily supported at some of these schools.
The Vocal Arts Studio removes the financial burden,
allowing these students to receive this much needed vocal training.
Selecting Our Students
Our students must audition for selection to our Vocal Arts Studio, and must
receive a recommendation by their choir director prior to the audition. Each
Student must be prepared to sing at least two songs that will demonstrate
both vocal quality and range. The student will participate in a 5-10
minute interview with Dr. Jason Oby, Miss Kathleen Knight and our vocal
insturctor to measure their level of interest and commitment to classical
voice training, and their level of commitment to our year-long rigorous,
disciplined voice program.
What Our Students Receive
The students in our program must be
committed to classical vocal training, must attend weekly vocal training,
must plan to attend college and pursue music degree, must complete all
assignments given to them by their vocal instructor and must participate in
monthly Master Classes. The students must
participate two public recital: the first held in March
2007 and the second held at the end of the semester in
May 2007. It is mandatory that the student fully
participate in their high school’s choir.
Once selected, our vocal instructors will
travel to the student’s school to give them free weekly
voice lessons. A time will be arranged with the
school’s principal and choir director. The student will
also attend monthly Master Classes which will cover
selected topics and instruction in diction, and music
theory; attend arts and music performances and receive
instruction in the Kodaly Method of sight-singing and
healthy vocal techniques.
These classes will also focus
on musical expression and technique as a tool to enhance
singing, and it will afford the opportunity to
experience a variety of World Music traditions, vocal
techniques, rhythms and performance settings. Under our
Distinguished Artist Lecture Series, we will invite
music professionals to address our students, and speak
on the facets of classical music and the foundations of
good singing.
Another objective
of Vocal Arts Studio is to provide as much exposure to
the Arts available here in the Greater Houston Area. To
achieve this objective, the students will be taken to
musical performances at the Houston Grand, at the Hobby
Center and at Jones Hall.
Contact us for more info
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