Morley Opera School

When & Where

26 April 2023 - 15 July 2023 ( 99 hours, 11 weeks )
Evening, Morning, Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday
View course timetable
Waterloo Centre

Quick Facts

Availability Yes
Tutor Multiple
Course Code W22VSSC02C
Suitable For 19 year olds and up are permitted on this course

What you will learn

The highly-successful Morley Opera School course is designed for singers who possess a secure classical technique wishing to develop and combine stagecraft and performance with existing musical skills, in order to develop their professional repertoire portfolio. Many of our students are offered places for postgraduate degrees at major music colleges and conservatoires in the UK and abroad, or roles with professional and amateur opera companies.

Our round of auditions in July has now finished, but we are accepting late applications to audition for remaining places in our opera courses. Auditions will take place on 6&7 September 2022 for entry in the academic year 2022/23. Please send your application form by 1 September.

Visit here for more information about the course and to apply for an audition.

Learning Outcomes

By the end of this course, you will be able to:

Develop vocal performance and pronunciation skills through working with vocal coaches and language coaches
Develop stagecraft skills, such as movement and characterisation on stage through working with a stage director
Identify and address strengths and weaknesses in performance abilities
Experience working in a professional environment, adhering to international standards of discipline and custom, within a strict rehearsal schedule
Develop ability to follow a conductor

Cost

Full fee

£985

Concession fee

£740

Class format and activities

The Morley Opera School is a course spread over three terms in one academic year. Each term culminates in a series of public staged shows, featuring a variety of opera scenes and languages (Italian, German, French and English). Each student is allocated at least two roles in opera scenes, that suit their voice type and stage of development.

The first three to five weeks are devoted to group and individual music and language calls with a team of vocal coaches and specialist language coach. Those are followed by another four to five weeks of stage rehearsals with the stage director, while music rehearsals continue. The last couple of weeks are devoted to stage rehearsals and final run-throughs, followed by dress rehearsals.

Additional activities each term include masterclasses by well-known specialists in the field of opera, eg. Roderick Williams, David Gowland, Nicky Spence, Brenda Hurley, John Ramster, Mary King and Yvonne Howard. There is also one optional lunchtime concert of opera arias, movement and stagecraft workshops and other activities.

The staff in 2022/23 consists of: Michalis Angelakis - Head of Opera; Nicholas Bosworth - Senior Vocal Coach Matteo Dalle Fratte - Italian Language Coach; Johanna Mayr - German Language Coach; Darquise Bilodeau - French Language Coach. Our stage director this term is William Kerley.

The course runs on Wednesdays & Thursdays 6.30-9.30 & Saturdays 10.30-1.30.

To study on this course, you are required to commit to no more than 5 absences in the term, and you are required to be available for our final rehearsals, dress rehearsals and performances on: 12-16 December 6.30-9.30 and 17 December 1-4.

You are also expected to continue having regular individual singing lessons to further develop your technique.

Entry requirements

This is an advanced course for students wishing to be able to perform opera at professional standard, and all of the students are required to participate in the end-of-term public performances.

You are expected to:

Have developed your vocal technique at a fairly high standard, and commit to continue receiving regular singing tuition in addition to your studies at the college (the college does not offer individual singing tuition). The Head of Opera and Senior Vocal Coach are willing to offer guidance and support in choosing a suitable vocal tutor.
Commit to no more than 5 absences per term, and to all the dress rehearsal and performance dates, as provided by the Head of Opera upon offer of a place at the Opera School.
Commit to regular practice of the music, translation and background research on the assigned repertoire.
Be responsible for a positive and collaborative approach to the rehearsal and production process
Some previous stage experience, and understanding of pronunciation rules in Italian, German and French are desirable.

Entry to the course is via audition. To apply, please download and complete the form found on our webpage and e-mail it to opera@morleycollege.ac.uk. We will then contact you to arrange an audition, for which you need to prepare 2 arias of your choice. In special circumstances where a live audition is not possible, we also accept online applications accompanied by 2 recent unedited video recordings of your chosen arias.

Please send along the completed application form together with private unlisted YouTube video links to opera@morleycollege.ac.uk. We will then contact you to arrange a short online interview.

What you need to know before you enrol

Please check the 'Entry Requirements' and visit our webpage for more information about opera at Morley.

What you need

Music scores (provided by the college) Note-taking equipment. Comfortable clothes for movement sessions.

What you can do next

Depending upon vocal technical assuredness, students should investigate full-time study in one of the major conservatoires. Students, who have a great deal of experience and a secure vocal technique, could consider entry into the profession. The course may be usefully repeated for more than three terms.