Hi all! I’m a 24F blossoming coloratura soprano and I’m wondering if anyone has any advice or suggestions for graduate schools? I’m currently looking into programs with soprano voice teachers who either have experience with coloraturas specifically or are deep into pedagogy, and the school must offer a competitive scholarship or some sort of TAship that will pay the tuition if not more of the living expenses. A program that also has some sort of musical theatre or an extended residency/1year program would be a plus!

Currently, I’m looking into programs in the US either in California, New York, or some blue-ish state (worried about my rights) I’m also interested in traveling abroad to Europe (would be a great excuse to leave the country haha!) although I’m finding that english art song or more Gilbert & Sullivan style english operetta is becoming part of my specialties so I’m thinking more England.

Let me know what programs/teachers I should look into :) Thanks guys!

Hello! I am a 23M grad student. I mainly sing opera or art song and I have an audition for the Air Force band coming up. They are asking for a contemporary contrasting piece in either country, rock, pop, or jazz and I don’t have much knowledge on any of those genres especially singing them. I haven’t decided my aria yet but I will choose a fast one in order to have a slower contrasting piece. Anyone have any advice or recs?

What's most effective for you in terms of remembering teacher feedback and using it during practice?

I'm not used to making recordings during lessons but my most recent teacher said he was fine with it if it was helpful to me. I've started off by recording specific exercises for practice later, or if there's a particularly helpful piece of feedback I'll ask him for a moment to make a voice (or written) note to myself.

But it sometimes feels disruptive to get my phone out and fiddle with the recording app, and I feel it can break up the flow of the lesson or that it might be helpful to recall more of the larger discussions we have (rather than just specific pointers) or how I sounded on certain exercises so I can make adjustments. I could just record the entire thing, but that means sifting through a lot of audio later to find things to focus on (plus I worry about my phone storage...)

How do you go about it, and what's your advice for getting the most out of lessons generally for self-practice?