The Vocal Arts program of study at UC Irvine provides intensive study and exceptional performing opportunities for undergraduate and graduate students wishing to pursue a career in vocal music. Undergraduates have regularly been accepted into prestigious graduate programs in research universities and conservatories, and graduate students have been successfully employed in university teaching and performing organizations.
Pertinent music curriculum includes studio lessons, Opera Workshop, Diction, Song Literature, Vocal Pedagogy, ensemble courses, Word & Music (for singers and pianists), weekly master classes, conducting and Opera Accompanying; students are also encouraged to take courses in improvisation, conducting, language, dance and movement, acting and speech. Additionally, undergraduate and graduate music courses on topics of interest to singers, ranging from opera staging to the music of Sondheim, are taught on a regular basis by our musicology faculty.
Download the Vocal Arts Schedule of Activities, Fall 2012
Download the Fall 2012 Vocal Performance Schedule
Robin Buck
Professor of Music
(on sabbatical Spring 2013)
Director of UCI Opera
RobinBuck.com
Darryl Taylor
Associate Professor of Music
Area Head, Vocal Arts
Coordinator, Art Song & Artistry series
Founder, African American Art Song Alliance
www.DarrylTaylor.com
Frances Young
Lecturer, Studio Voice
Joseph Huszti
Professor
Director of Choral Studies
Margaret Murata
Professor
Topics of special interest to singers
Colleen Reardon
Professor
Topics of special interest to singers
Stephen Tucker
Associate Professor
Director of Orchestral Studies
Music Director of UCI Opera
Nina Scolnik
Lecturer S.O.E.
Word and Music
Lorna Griffitt
Lecturer S.O.E.
Collaborative Piano
Junko Nojima
Robin Buck, Artistic Director
UCI Opera produces an annual a full operatic production, a scenes program, or a concert opera on a rotating basis, offering singers crucial training in stagecraft, role analysis, acting, movement and musical preparation. MFA and undergraduate pianists have an opportunity to learn important accompanying and coaching skills through working on operatic repertoire. UCI Symphony and UCI Choirs regularly perform with UCI Opera. Recent productions have included Menotti's The Old Maid & the Thief, Humperdinck’s Hansel and Gretel, Menotti’s The Medium, Puccini’s Gianni Schicchi, Act III of La Bohême, Gilbert & Sullivan’s Trial by Jury (disorder in the court –a pastiche) and Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas. Additionally, student and faculty composers have premiered their works (most recently The Chairs by Kevin Zhang), and student conductors have had the opportunity to prepare and conduct performances. For more, please visit the website for UCI Opera.
The UCI Choirs have enjoyed outstanding success. Twenty-two concert tours have taken the UCI Choirs to festivals and competitions in Europe and Asia. Seventy-five percent of our singers are non-music majors. UCI singers and choirs have won prizes at the International Eisteddfod in Wales (four times), the Koorfest in Holland, World Choir Games in China and at the Béla Bartók International Choral Competition in Hungary (three times). For more information, visit the UCI Irvine Choirs pages.
Darryl Taylor, Artistic Director
The concert series is devoted to bringing Art Song to the attention of students and audiences alike, presenting events showcasing students and composers. Upcoming programs include a Liederabend and California Singing, featuring works by California composers. Past events have included the African American Song Alliance national conference, master classes by local composers and recitals of a wide-ranging Art Song repertoire.
Opera is by nature and design a synthesis of music, drama, dance and art; UCI Opera offers unique artistic and educational opportunities within the Claire Trevor School of the Arts, and the School of the Arts is unique within the UC system.
UCI Opera has successfully collaborated with the Drama and Dance departments, providing important opportunities for undergraduate and graduate student performers, designers, choreographers, directors, stage managers and production assistants, many of whom have gone on to professional engagements in opera.
UCI Vocal Arts provides outreach opportunities through performances and presentations in the community (OLLI, Opera 100, Opera Friends of OC) and in schools throughout Orange County (Creative Connections student scholars).