Intensive Vocal Performance Seminar

Pamela Hinchman

July 28-August 1, 2025

Schedule: MTWThF, 9:00am-12:00pm, 2:00-5:00pm, 6:30-10:00pm

Final Concert: Friday, August 1, at 7:00pm

Location: Ryan Center for the Musical Arts (Evanston Campus)

July 28-August 1, 2025

Overview

Have you wondered what it would take to have a career singing? This career seminar will help to answer these questions whether you are just venturing out into the field as a high school student, you are in college, or you are wanting to return to the business after a hiatus. Lectures, lessons, an opera production or scenes production and master classes with international opera singer Pamela Hinchman, associate professor of voice at Northwestern University and colleagues from around the world. The seminar will identify pieces that will make you your most marketable product and then help you to perfect them. You will learn how a singer can most effectively create a dynamic résumé and bio, get advice on the proper photo for your voice type, and provide a marketing strategy if you are at that stage in your career. Bodywork and acting classes as well as guidance from vocal health specialists will aid the singer in remain healthy throughout their career. A full opera production will be performed on Friday evening in front of an audience. Space is limited so early submission of participant applications is advisable. The opera will be chosen based on the admitted applicants. Past productions have included Bizet’s Carmen, Massenet’s Cendrillion, Mozart’s Impresario to name a few.

A special section is included for high school students interested in exploring what it would be like to have a career on the stage. In addition to coachings and performances, they will begin to develop skills in preparation for college auditions for both music theater and classical vocal study.

Pamela Hinchman has performed at New York’s Carnegie Hall and Avery Fischer Hall as well as with the Hong Kong Philharmonic and the Pittsburgh, Wichita, Columbus, Harrisburg, Connecticut, Kansas City, West Virginia, Cairo (Egypt), and Calgary Symphony Orchestras. Winner of the Prix Spéciale in Belgium’s International Bel Canto Competition, she has also appeared with the Cleveland Opera, Mansfield Opera, Pittsburgh Opera, Opera New England, Opera Company of Boston, Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie (Belgium), Nashville Opera, Florida Grand Opera, Chicago Opera Theatre, Austin Opera, and Lyric Opera of Kansas City.

Available Credits

MUS_WKSP 310 Sec 6 Performance Workshop, One-Week 0 credit 
MUS_WKSP 315 Sec 6 Performance Workshop, One-Week 0.5 credit

Tuition

Participant Tuition: $750, Full Program Auditor: $450

(Additional charge to register for credit)

Audition requirements

A digital audio recording of three selections of your choice.

How to Apply

Applications must be submitted via the Summer Application. Upon creating a file in the Application, applicants should select “Summer Session” as their application type, and then select the workshop to which they are applying. This will ensure that the file is distributed to the correct reviewers. No separate application form is necessary—do not submit an application to Northwestern University via the Common Application or Graduate Music Online Application. Applicants will be asked to upload a detailed resume as well as all audition requirements. 

The deadline for participant applications is April 7, 2025. The deadline for accepted participant registration with full tuition due is June 1, 2025.

Apply Now

NOTE: No paper applications will be accepted. Do not mail recordings to the Bienen School of Music or to faculty, as these will not be reviewed or returned.


Faculty

See Full Bio

Pamela Hinchman

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Soprano. Pamela Hinchman has received universal critical acclaim since being an Adler Fellow with the San Francisco Opera. After being named Musical America’s Young Artist to Watch, she appeared in major venues in Italy, France, England, Israel, Mexico, Austria, the United States, Egypt, and Hong Kong.

From her graduate studies at Curtis, she was hand picked by Gian-Carlo Menotti to create the title role in his world premiere of The Bride from Pluto at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC. After a national tour, he then took her to Spoleto, Italy, where she was featured in a multimedia event for RAI television. 

She has appeared in leading roles in various opera companies, including San Francisco, Pittsburgh, Palm Beach, Kentucky, Florida Grand, Nashville, Cleveland Opera, New Orleans, Chautauqua, Wolf Trap Opera, and Grand Rapids, singing such repertoire as Susanna in Le nozze di Figaro, Norina in Don Pasquale, Pamina and Queen of the Night in Magic Flute, Adina in L‘elisir d’amore, Adele in Die Fledermaus, Zerlina in Don Giovanni, Musetta in La boheme, Josephine in HMS Pinafore, and Mabel in Pirates of Penzance, to name a few.

Professor Hinchman has performed with orchestras around the world, including Washington’s National Symphony at both the Kennedy Center and at Wolf Trap Performing Arts Center, the Pittsburgh Symphony, the New World Symphony, the Cleveland Orchestra, Florida Philharmonic, Harrisburg Symphony, Omaha Symphony, Columbus Symphony, Kansas City Symphony, National Chorale of Avery Fisher, Indianapolis Symphony, Orchestra of St. Luke’s, Richmond Symphony, Calgary Philharmonic, Haifa Symphony in Israel, Cairo Symphony in Egypt, Pacific Symphony, Hong Kong Philharmonic, and many others. She has appeared at Wolf Trap, OK Mozart, Mostly Mozart at Lincoln Center, and Caramoor Festivals. She has sung a wide variety of concert repertoire such as Mozart’s Exultate, jubilateRequiem, C-Mass, and Coronation Mass; Barber’s Knoxville, Summer of 1915; Orff’s Carmina burana; Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony; Handel’s Messiah (including one performance that was broadcast on PBS for 10 seasons); Gliere’s Concerto for Coloratura Soprano; Canteloube’s Songs of the Auvergne; Mahler’s Symphony #4; Haydn’s Creation; Bach's Wedding Cantata and B-Mass; and Karl Jenkin’s Mass for Peace at Carnegie Hall.

Basing her career—and consequently her teaching—on versatility, Professor Hinchman's past students are currently performing on Broadway and in national touring companies. Having performed countless performances of music by Johann Strauss, Lehar, Gilbert and Sullivan, Sondheim, Rodgers and Hammerstein, Kern, Lerner and Loewe, and Gershwin, Ms. Hinchman  is equally at home in crossover work.  In the genres of Musical Theater and Jazz, she has appeared in Israel, Egypt, Wolf Trap, Caramoor Festival, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Chautauqua, Italy, France, England, and Thailand.  In 2018, she will sing an evening of Jazz in Havana, Cuba at the Teatro Lirico Nacional de Cuba.  By specifically utilizing the Estill Vocal technique, she specializes in cross vocal training.

As a master class technician and recitalist, she has appeared at Indiana University; University of Michigan; Curtis Institute of Music; Cincinnati Conservatory of Music; Westminster Choir College; Chautauqua Opera; American Institute of Musical Studies (AIMS); University of Illinois; Cleveland Institute of Music; Riga Academy in Latvia; Vilnius Academy in Lithuania; the Georges V Recital Series at the American Cathedral in Paris; The Rostov State Theatre in Russia; Bangalore, India; Bangkok, Thailand; Djibouti, Africa; Ulan Baatar, Mongolia; Yangoon, Myanmar; Tenerife, Spain; Antiqua, Guatemala; Graz, Austria; and Lucca, Italy.

Students of Professor Hinchman have sung at the Lyric Opera of Chicago, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Vienna Volksoper, York Opera, Chicago Opera Theater, Opera Theater of St. Louis, Young Artist Programs at Florentine Opera, Glimmerglass, Wolf Trap, Tulsa Opera, Chautauqua Opera, Aspen, Central City, Utah Festival Opera, Des Moines Metro Opera, Indianapolis Opera, and Sarasota Opera; and on Broadway at the Eugene O’Neill Theatre and national touring companies of Book of Mormon and Motown, to name a few. Her students have been recipients of prestigious awards from the Neue Stimmen International Competition, Palm Beach Opera, Nicholas Loren International Competition, Classical Singers National Competition, Chicago Musicians’ Club of Women (Lynn Harvey Cooper Award), the Bel Canto Opera Foundation Competition (Grand Prize), National Association of Teachers of Singing Artist Awards, International Handel Aria Competition, and the International Meistersinger Competition. Many students have been finalists in the district and regional Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions.

A native of Pennsylvania, Professor Hinchman received her master's degree in opera from the Curtis Institute of Music. She received an Alumni Achievement Award from the Cleveland Institute of Music for “significant professional achievement in performance.” Passionate about “giving back” to communities, in 2017 she received an Alumnae Grant from Northwestern University and a matching grant from The Jewish Communal Fund to give master classes and to perform at the Teatro Lirico Nacional de Cuba in Havana with Victor Goines in an evening of Jazz.   She was also awarded a Fulbright Grant to work in Asia and three University Research Grants for cross-cultural music exchanges, a program that she takes all over the world bringing hope and peace through music.  “Peace is not about the absence of war but the presence of love and soprano singer [Pamela Hinchman] has a love connection with music that has the capacity to connect and heal the bonds of our humanity.”   - Ulaan Baatar Times, 2009

Pamela Hinchman

Close

Soprano. Pamela Hinchman has received universal critical acclaim since being an Adler Fellow with the San Francisco Opera. After being named Musical America’s Young Artist to Watch, she appeared in major venues in Italy, France, England, Israel, Mexico, Austria, the United States, Egypt, and Hong Kong.

From her graduate studies at Curtis, she was hand picked by Gian-Carlo Menotti to create the title role in his world premiere of The Bride from Pluto at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC. After a national tour, he then took her to Spoleto, Italy, where she was featured in a multimedia event for RAI television. 

She has appeared in leading roles in various opera companies, including San Francisco, Pittsburgh, Palm Beach, Kentucky, Florida Grand, Nashville, Cleveland Opera, New Orleans, Chautauqua, Wolf Trap Opera, and Grand Rapids, singing such repertoire as Susanna in Le nozze di Figaro, Norina in Don Pasquale, Pamina and Queen of the Night in Magic Flute, Adina in L‘elisir d’amore, Adele in Die Fledermaus, Zerlina in Don Giovanni, Musetta in La boheme, Josephine in HMS Pinafore, and Mabel in Pirates of Penzance, to name a few.

Professor Hinchman has performed with orchestras around the world, including Washington’s National Symphony at both the Kennedy Center and at Wolf Trap Performing Arts Center, the Pittsburgh Symphony, the New World Symphony, the Cleveland Orchestra, Florida Philharmonic, Harrisburg Symphony, Omaha Symphony, Columbus Symphony, Kansas City Symphony, National Chorale of Avery Fisher, Indianapolis Symphony, Orchestra of St. Luke’s, Richmond Symphony, Calgary Philharmonic, Haifa Symphony in Israel, Cairo Symphony in Egypt, Pacific Symphony, Hong Kong Philharmonic, and many others. She has appeared at Wolf Trap, OK Mozart, Mostly Mozart at Lincoln Center, and Caramoor Festivals. She has sung a wide variety of concert repertoire such as Mozart’s Exultate, jubilateRequiem, C-Mass, and Coronation Mass; Barber’s Knoxville, Summer of 1915; Orff’s Carmina burana; Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony; Handel’s Messiah (including one performance that was broadcast on PBS for 10 seasons); Gliere’s Concerto for Coloratura Soprano; Canteloube’s Songs of the Auvergne; Mahler’s Symphony #4; Haydn’s Creation; Bach's Wedding Cantata and B-Mass; and Karl Jenkin’s Mass for Peace at Carnegie Hall.

Basing her career—and consequently her teaching—on versatility, Professor Hinchman's past students are currently performing on Broadway and in national touring companies. Having performed countless performances of music by Johann Strauss, Lehar, Gilbert and Sullivan, Sondheim, Rodgers and Hammerstein, Kern, Lerner and Loewe, and Gershwin, Ms. Hinchman  is equally at home in crossover work.  In the genres of Musical Theater and Jazz, she has appeared in Israel, Egypt, Wolf Trap, Caramoor Festival, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Chautauqua, Italy, France, England, and Thailand.  In 2018, she will sing an evening of Jazz in Havana, Cuba at the Teatro Lirico Nacional de Cuba.  By specifically utilizing the Estill Vocal technique, she specializes in cross vocal training.

As a master class technician and recitalist, she has appeared at Indiana University; University of Michigan; Curtis Institute of Music; Cincinnati Conservatory of Music; Westminster Choir College; Chautauqua Opera; American Institute of Musical Studies (AIMS); University of Illinois; Cleveland Institute of Music; Riga Academy in Latvia; Vilnius Academy in Lithuania; the Georges V Recital Series at the American Cathedral in Paris; The Rostov State Theatre in Russia; Bangalore, India; Bangkok, Thailand; Djibouti, Africa; Ulan Baatar, Mongolia; Yangoon, Myanmar; Tenerife, Spain; Antiqua, Guatemala; Graz, Austria; and Lucca, Italy.

Students of Professor Hinchman have sung at the Lyric Opera of Chicago, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Vienna Volksoper, York Opera, Chicago Opera Theater, Opera Theater of St. Louis, Young Artist Programs at Florentine Opera, Glimmerglass, Wolf Trap, Tulsa Opera, Chautauqua Opera, Aspen, Central City, Utah Festival Opera, Des Moines Metro Opera, Indianapolis Opera, and Sarasota Opera; and on Broadway at the Eugene O’Neill Theatre and national touring companies of Book of Mormon and Motown, to name a few. Her students have been recipients of prestigious awards from the Neue Stimmen International Competition, Palm Beach Opera, Nicholas Loren International Competition, Classical Singers National Competition, Chicago Musicians’ Club of Women (Lynn Harvey Cooper Award), the Bel Canto Opera Foundation Competition (Grand Prize), National Association of Teachers of Singing Artist Awards, International Handel Aria Competition, and the International Meistersinger Competition. Many students have been finalists in the district and regional Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions.

A native of Pennsylvania, Professor Hinchman received her master's degree in opera from the Curtis Institute of Music. She received an Alumni Achievement Award from the Cleveland Institute of Music for “significant professional achievement in performance.” Passionate about “giving back” to communities, in 2017 she received an Alumnae Grant from Northwestern University and a matching grant from The Jewish Communal Fund to give master classes and to perform at the Teatro Lirico Nacional de Cuba in Havana with Victor Goines in an evening of Jazz.   She was also awarded a Fulbright Grant to work in Asia and three University Research Grants for cross-cultural music exchanges, a program that she takes all over the world bringing hope and peace through music.  “Peace is not about the absence of war but the presence of love and soprano singer [Pamela Hinchman] has a love connection with music that has the capacity to connect and heal the bonds of our humanity.”   - Ulaan Baatar Times, 2009