Vocal Work

There are 15-20 vocal places at EYSM and we aim to take applications from across the range of voices to create a balanced ensemble.

Vocal students have the opportunity to work not only as soloists but in collaboration with other singers as part of a number of choirs and ensembles. All vocal students will have the experience of singing with an orchestra as part of the EYSM Course Choir, which rehearses each day, and there are opportunities for all course participants to take part in the Chamber Choir, Gospel Choir and Musical Theatre Option sessions.

Working with both our Vocal Director and Singing Tutor, vocal students will have the chance to:

  • Develop their musicianship and musicality through opportunities for collaboration;
  • Explore a wide variety of vocal repertoire in various styles: from Oratorio to Lieder and Opera, and from Musical Theatre to 21st century music;
  • Learn about effective and safe technical warm-ups;
  • Understand what constitutes good vocal health through tailored tuition with a professional opera singer;
  • Work on singing in different languages with accuracy and clear communication;
  • Make a recording with a professional accompanist and professional recording engineer;
  • Develop of deeper understanding of repertoire and the important link between the text and the music;
  • Work on professional presentation and performance skills.

 

Our 2024 Vocal Repertoire

Course Choir

O Fortuna - Carmina Burana
C.Orff

Chamber Choir

Locus Iste
A. Bruckner

Musical Theatre

West Side Story - Excerpts
Leonard Bernstein

Student Accompanists

EYSM offers 2 accomplished student pianists the opportunity to develop their skills through accompaniment and collaboration.

The work of the accompanist or collaborative pianist is without doubt one of the most joyful aspects of music making. Solo pianists sometimes feel like they spend huge amounts of time in the practice studio working in isolation which can become lonely.

Through working with other up-and-coming young musicians and being tutored by a highly qualified and accomplished accompanist and repetiteur, student accompanists will develop their skills and understanding of how to:

  • Truly listen with musicianship and sensitivity;
  • Develop sight reading skills;
  • Develop a range of colours, and create the impression of a big orchestral sound without overpowering or overshadowing the soloist;
  • Use rhythm to drive a performance, yet be adaptable and responsive in different contexts
  • Explore new genres of music

Students will experience the working reality of being an accompanist as they play for rehearsals, performances and recordings in a setting that has many excellent pianos, including a Steinway D, Steinway B, Bechstein D and a range of Yamaha grand and upright pianos. Students will also perform in the EYSM main concert venue, which is a BBC-standard Concert Hall.

Student accompanists will finish the course with a deeper awareness of repertoire and composers from different times and with greater performing experience. There is no doubt that they will also form new and lasting musical friendships.

Please email Neill Oldham – [email protected] if you would like to apply to be a Student Accompanist.

Vocal Tutors

Joanna García

Vocal Director
Accompanist, Repetiteur

Joanna García gained a First Class Honours Bachelor of Music degree from Manchester University in 1996, also winning three Hargreaves Music Prizes and the Sir Thomas Beecham Medal for outstanding achievement throughout the course.

She continued her studies at the RNCM with Paul Janes and Renna Kellaway, and David Francis for harpsichord, obtaining the sought-after Professional Performance Diploma and a Postgraduate Diploma in Performance. She won the Granada Chamber Music Award, the Song Cycle Accompanist’s Prize, an Allcard Award, and an English-Speaking Union scholarship to study piano in France with teachers from the Paris Conservatoire.

Following her studies, Joanna was offered a two-year Junior Fellowship in accompanying at the RNCM, and was subsequently appointed as Assistant Staff Tutor in Accompaniment. She also worked as Staff Accompanist at Chetham’s School of Music, and taught piano at Manchester University.

Joanna has performed with eminent musicians such as Sir John Tomlinson in a concert shown on the South Bank Show, had a long-standing duo partnership with viola player Robin Ireland, performed a recital in Buenos Aires with tenor Roberto García López, and performed with the Lindsay Quartet in their Sheffield Festival. She has a CD of contemporary music which is available internationally, and she is particularly passionate about collaborative musicianship.

Joanna particularly enjoys working with singers as a coach, and has been repetiteur and conductor with Heritage Opera, conducting operas such as Tosca and Don Giovanni. She has conducted many youth and adult choirs over a number of years, and has a passion for music in education, having worked from 2001 until 2018 as a primary and secondary school teacher, specialist music teacher, and then Assistant and Deputy Headteacher.

Joanna now has a busy teaching schedule as director of the Joanna García Piano School, and works with students internationally. She is also a pedagogy coach with her own team of associate tutors and other piano teachers, a music consultant in schools, and works as occasional staff pianist at the RNCM.

Roberto García López

Singing Tutor

Roberto was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina. He studied singing with Prof. Carmen Favre, renowned singer and teacher at the Instituto Superior de Arte del Teatro Colón and at the National Conservatoire “Carlos López Burchardo”. He also studied repertoire with Prof. Rozita Zozulia, repetiteur and Head of Music at the Instituto Superior de Arte del Teatro Colon. Roberto continued his voice studies in England at the Royal Northern College of Music and is currently studying vocal technique with Paul Farrington, vocal coach at Covent Garden, and working with coaches such as Steve Wood (Welsh National Opera) and Mark Packwood (Covent Garden) , Jacqueline Bremar, Ludmilla Andrew and Anthony Roden.

Roberto sang the role of The Elderly Gentleman in RNCM’s production of Exposition of a Picture by Stephen Oliver. He also sang the role of Steva in the RNCM’s critically acclaimed production of Jenufa and performed the role of Jenik in Smetana’s The Bartered Bride for Opera 74. Roberto sang the roles of Bacco and Un Soldato in Cesti’s Il Pomo D’Oro in Italy, at the Batignano Summer Festival, under Christian Curnyn. He sang the role of Nadir for Edinburgh Grand Opera in The Pearl Fishers at the Edinburgh Festival Theatre. He also sang the title role of Don Carlos and Dick Johnson (La Fanciulla del West) for the RNCM, Cavaradossi for both Heritage Opera and Candlelight Opera, Jontek (Moniuszko’s Halka) for Heritage Opera, Alfredo for both Heritage Opera and Candlelight Opera and Pinkerton for Heritage Opera.

Roberto has also appeared on the concert platform. He has sung Britten’s St. Nicholas Cantata, Haydn’s Great Organ Mass, Theresienmesse and Nelson Mass, Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis (Mass in D), Hiawatha’s Wedding Feast, excerpts from Tippet’s A Child of Our Time, Dvorak’s Stabat Mater, Handel’s Judas Maccabeus and Mozart’s Requiem. He has also sung Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony with Iceni Orquestra. He has also sung a selection of Lehar operetta arias with Morecambe Promenade Concert Orchestra, conducted by Howard Rogerson, Il Trovatore (Manrico) with Opera South East, Carmen (Don Jose) for New Cornwall Opera, Tosca (Cavaradossi) with Hashtag Opera and directed by Alessandro Talevi, Il Trovatore (Manrico) for Hashtag Opera, a televised Gala concert in Chisinau, Moldova, Verdi’s Requiem, Petite Messe Solennelle, Azael in L’Enfant Prodigue, Tosca for Fulham Opera, cover of Manrico for Dorset Opera, the cover of Calaf for Welsh National Opera. Roberto enjoys adjudicating vocal classes at festivals throughout the UK.

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