Degree Requirements

Master of Music: Voice and Opera Performance

Program of Study — 18 units, 2 years

Courses outside of the Bienen School of Music do not count toward the minimum 18 units required for the degree.

Applied Lessons — 6 units

Students should select the section appropriate to their applied lessons professor.

VOICE 410 Applied Voice

Vocal Solo Class — 0 units, 6 registrations required

VOICE 311 Vocal Solo Class

Studio Class — 0 units, 6 registrations required

Students should select the section appropriate to their applied lessons professor.

VOICE 490 Studio Class

Phonetics and Diction — 0 units, 3 registrations required

Students must enroll in these courses during their first year of study. Second year students may enroll with permission from the instructor.

VOICE 411-1 Graduate Phonetics and Diction, fall quarter
VOICE 411-2 Graduate Phonetics and Diction, winter quarter
VOICE 411-3 Graduate Phonetics and Diction, spring quarter

Opera Workshop — 1.5 units

Students must enroll in these courses during their first year of study. Second year students may enroll with permission from the instructor.

VOICE 451-1 Graduate Opera Workshop, fall quarter
VOICE 451-2 Graduate Opera Workshop, winter quarter
VOICE 451-3 Graduate Opera Workshop, spring quarter

Pedagogy — 0.5 unit

Students must enroll during their first year of study.

VOICE 423 Graduate Vocal Pedagogy

Repertoire — 3 units

Students may select from the courses listed below. Courses may be repeated.

CONDUCT 395 Baroque Music Ensemble
MUSIC 350 Alexander Technique
VOICE 493 Repertoire Studies

Major Ensemble — 1.5 units

Students are required to participate in a major ensemble or faculty-approved substitute for three quarters of study. Enrollment in more than one ensemble in the same quarter does not allow students to forgo ensemble enrollment in future quarters. Assignments to ensembles are made by the faculty and determined by audition.

CONDUCT 364 Choral Organizations

Music Studies Core — 1 unit

MUSIC 440 Introduction to Music Research

Music Studies Electives, 300 level or above — 2 units

Music Studies Electives are Music Studies courses of the student’s choosing. Music Studies courses are 1 unit, academic in nature, and typically begin with the subject MUS_COMP, MUS_TECH, MUS_THRY, MUSIC_ED, and MUSICOL. Courses must be at the 300 level or above.

Students must pass the incoming music theory diagnostic exam or the MUS_THRY 401 Graduate Review of Music Theory course before enrolling in other MUS_THRY courses.

Music Electives, 300 level or above — 2.5 units

Music Electives are courses within the Bienen School of Music of the student’s choosing. Courses must be at the 300 level or above.

VOICE 455 Vocal Coaching and VOICE 463 Opera Performance, when registration is for 0.5 units, count toward the Music Electives requirement.

Recital — 0 units, 1 registration required

Students should select the section appropriate to their studio.

VOICE 480 MM Recital

Students must register for the recital in the quarter of the recital. The applied lessons professor or a faculty-designated substitute must attend and pass students on the recital. Students who do not complete the recital by the end of six quarters must register for MUSIC 480 Recital Continuation in the quarter of the final recital.

Music Theory Requirement

Students must pass the incoming music theory diagnostic exam or the MUS_THRY 401 Graduate Review of Music Theory course.

Additional Information and Procedures

Opera Information and Requirements

Operas are cast by audition. Students selected for roles or chorus parts must sign an agreement stating their acceptance. Students must communicate any possible rehearsal or performance conflicts to the Director of Opera prior to accepting roles or chorus parts to ensure their participation in the opera is possible.

Master’s students in the Voice and Opera program are required to attend at least one performance of each opera production.

Jury Information and Requirements

First year master’s students must sing one selection for the Voice and Opera Faculty during orientation, and must offer a jury of three selections in winter quarter. Second year master’s students must sing a jury of three selections in the fall quarter. Students may be asked to perform a jury in the spring quarter at the discretion of the faculty.

Juries occur during exam week. Students are notified via email when jury times are released to sign up electronically.

Jury comments are available on Canvas.

Jury Postponement and Make-Ups

Students may request to postpone their jury due to illness or other emergencies. Students who receive permission to postpone their jury receive an incomplete grade for voice lessons for that quarter. The grade is updated once the student completes the jury. Incomplete grades are factored into the GPA as an F.

Jury make-ups must be scheduled with the Voice Program Coordinator, and typically occur on Mondays at noon. If the student is unavailable during that time, the applied lessons professor may arrange for a make-up jury to be held at an alternate time. All Voice and Opera faculty must be invited to the make-up jury, but only three faculty members are required to attend. One member must be the applied lessons professor.

Recital Guidelines

Master’s recitals should be 45-60 minutes of music and represent a variety of styles in at least three languages. The applied lessons professor must approve the recital repertoire.
With the support of the applied lessons professor, students may petition for an exception to the repertoire requirement. An example would be a major song cycle such as “Die schöne Müllerin” occupying the entire program, or a non-traditional recital format. Students should email the exception request to the Voice Program Coordinator for the Voice Faculty to consider and vote on.
Students must audition for recital permission, and recitals must take place within four to eight weeks of passing the recital permission audition.
Students should review the Student Recital Scheduling Guidelines from the Concert Management Office. Students must submit all recital permission and program forms to the Concert Management Office four to eight weeks prior to the proposed date of the recital. The recital date, time, and hall may be reserved prior to recital permission as long as the forms and program are complete and signed.
Students must register for the recital in the quarter of the recital.

Recital Permission Procedures

Students should schedule the recital permission audition with the Program Coordinator of Voice and Opera four to eight weeks before the recital.
Students must perform at least 75% of the recital from memory during the recital permission audition. Studio policies and/or preparation requirements of more than 75% take precedence over this requirement. Representation from each section of the recital is required.
Subject to approval by the applied lessons professor, students may use music for a work from an oratorio, cantata, or chamber music when performed with multiple instruments and/or musicians. That repertoire may not exceed 50% of the total recital time.
Students performing a work from an oratorio, cantata, or chamber music must have 75% of the recital’s remaining repertoire memorized. Studio policies and/or preparation requirements of more than 75% take precedence over this requirement.
Students may have two hearings for recital permission as deemed necessary by the faculty.
At the recital permission, students must provide the faculty with the recital program to include:
1. The exact timing of each selection
2. The total time of all selections at the bottom of the page
3. The date, time, name of the pianist and any other collaborative artists
4. The location of the proposed recital
All spellings (including accents and umlauts), and information on the program must be accurate. Students should follow the formatting guidelines in the Sample Voice & Opera Program.
VOICE 305 Optional Recitals do not require recital permission auditions. Students are required to follow the Student Recital Scheduling Guidelines from the Concert Management Office for optional recitals.

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