Singers at the College of Wooster are among the most talented and passionate students in the country. Performance and instruction opportunities for singers are open to all students, regardless of major. Those who qualify by audition for the Bachelor of Music and Bachelor of Music Education in Teaching or Music Therapy degree programs participate in an intensive curriculum of applied and academic study. In addition to coaching and performance in lessons and studio classes, our singers have many additional performance opportunities to develop as artists.
Departmental Recitals are held several times throughout the semester and are open to all students studying applied music. Singers are encouraged to perform as often as possible when at least two contrasting pieces have been polished in lessons and studio class. Solo concerts are required of music majors and many non-majors elect to perform in recital as well.
All students are allowed to audition for the Opera & Lyric Theatre workshop. Annual performances include scenes programs, chamber operas and student compositions, as well as full productions of operas and musicals. Productions reflect a wide range of programming appropriate to our students’ vocal and artistic development. Recent scenes programs and chamber operas include: Opera American Style, The Face on the Barroom Floor, Mozart and the Moderns, A Hand of Bridge, Love and Marriage, Roman Fever and The Marriage of Figaro*Sliced and Diced. The Workshop has also performed entire works, including the children’s opera A Gift of Song for over 1,000 kids in the tri-county region and, most recently, the musical The Theory of Relativity.
Student singers participate annually in competitions such as the National Association of Teachers of Singing, Music Teachers National Association, Tuesday Musical Club and Classical Singer Auditions. Staff collaborative pianists are available to prepare and perform with our singers.
The Ohio Light Opera has been a Resident Professional Company of the College of Wooster for nearly fifty years. Each summer it presents several titles from the best of traditional operetta and American musical theatre. The productions are fully staged with orchestra. COW students enjoy a special relationship with the Ohio Light Opera and are frequently cast as ensemble members. Auditions are held on campus in December (COW students pay no application fee!).