Program Overview
Boston Conservatory at Berklee’s voice performance master's program prepares students for vibrant careers in music through specialized performance and audition training, a broad range of opportunities to perform publicly and refine musicianship, and focused studies in career building and entrepreneurship.
Performance opportunities are plentiful at the Conservatory. In addition to solo and studio recitals, voice graduate students participate and act as leaders in fully staged operas, concert operas, operas for young audiences, choral ensembles, contemporary music ensembles, chamber music recitals, and many more. Off campus, voice graduate students are encouraged to involve themselves in Greater Boston’s various opera, oratorio, and chamber music organizations, including Boston Opera Collaborative, Opera on Tap Boston, Emmanuel Music, The Bach Institute, and various church soloist and choir opportunities, to name a few.
Throughout the program, students work closely with esteemed faculty members in private lessons to hone their artistic skills and build on their vocal technique in order to prepare for professional and semi-professional auditions and engagements. Students are therefore expected to expand their audition and performance repertoire, compile professional materials, and begin to clearly articulate their career goals. Meanwhile, students have regular exposure to high-profile artists performing with the nearby Boston Lyric Opera or Boston Symphony Orchestra. These guest artists give master classes to Conservatory students that offer supplemental artistic guidance and career advice.
Our Students
Individuals who thrive in the voice performance master's program are driven by their desire to pursue a career in the arts. They are committed to becoming masters of their performance styles and vocal techniques, as well as experienced singers in a vast range of styles, from standard repertoire, to early music, to classical contemporary.
Core Curriculum
The Conservatory offers a holistic approach to performance training and recognizes the singer as a musician, actor, and entrepreneur. Therefore, students participate in non-traditional classes to round out their musical and vocal training, including Acting for Singers, Movement for Singers, Linklater voice and speech technique, Business of the Opera Business, and many others.
In their first year, students expand upon their artistic skills and solo performance techniques, while continuing to build their knowledge of vocal repertoire, foreign language diction, and acting techniques. They participate in opera productions and various ensembles, perform in studio recitals, collaborate with Conservatory instrumental students, attend weekly Voice Performance Seminars, and receive weekly private lessons in which they refine their technique and plan for their degree recital. Meanwhile, to build their performance resumés and professional networks, students are encouraged to take advantage of on- and off-campus performance and collaborative opportunities.
In the second year of the program, students continue their language diction and vocal repertoire studies, prepare a degree recital with their private studio teacher, and take elective courses to enhance their musical studies, such as Alexander Technique, Characterization, and Audition Techniques, to name a few. Additionally, students will receive weekly coachings with on-staff vocal coaches, in which they will refine their musical choices for their performance and audition repertoire.
Program Requirements
The Master of Music in Voice Performance requires students to complete 33 credits, consisting of the course requirements listed below. View the Sample Curriculum by Semester for additional details.
Proficiency Requirements
Upon matriculation to the Master of Music degree programs, candidates take proficiency exams in music theory and music history. These exams are designed to identify minimum competencies in both areas reflecting a typical undergraduate preparation in music. Any deficiencies revealed by these exams must be corrected within the first year in residence through successful completion of prescribed review courses in ear training, harmony, or music history.
Additionally, all candidates for the M.M. in Voice Performance must demonstrate proficiency through undergraduate coursework or proficiency exams in at least two of the following foreign languages: French, German, or Italian. Any deficiencies must be corrected in residence through successful completion of prescribed review courses.
Major Requirements
- M-AP 0009 Applied lessons (12 credits total, 3 credits each)
- M-AP 0701 Vocal Coaching (2 credits total, 1 credit each)
- M-EN 0xxx Ensemble electives (4 credits total, 1 credit each)
- M-EX 6001 Oral Comprehensive Exam (0 credit)
- M-LT 07xx / M-ST 779xx Repertoire electives (2 credits total)
- M-SK 0009 Recital (0 credit)
- M-SK 5701 Graduate Diction 1 (1 credit)
- M-SK 5702 Graduate Diction 2 (1 credit)
- M-ST 5711 Graduate Performance Seminar: Voice (2 credits total, 1 credit each)
Academics and General Electives
- M-LT 5103 Writing About Music (1 credit)
- M-LT 5104 Communicating About Music (1 credit)
- M-LT 712xx Graduate seminars in Theory & Analysis and/or M-LT 713xx Music History (6 credits total, 3 credits each)
- Xxxxx General electives (3 credits total)
What You Will Learn
Upon successful completion of the M.M. in Voice Performance program, students will:
- prepare, research and perform a wide range of repertoire with a high level of vocal technique and musical understanding developed through voice lessons, vocal coachings, as well as through genre-specific repertoire courses and focused study of music history;
- draw on skills learned in performance and diction/repertoire classes and tell stories through song in all sung languages easily and fluently, demonstrating translation skills and the ability to analyze poetry, and to deliver text in ways that are expressive and meaningful;
- research, perform, and appreciate the music of living and underrepresented composers;
- express physical artistry in any performance setting through an easy use of the body drawing on work in performance skills courses, elective acting and movement classes, and Alexander Technique;
- develop innovative artistic collaborations that lead to new forms of presentation of the sung art forms and new ways of expression. Having had collaborative experiences with conductors, composers, instrumentalists, and singers from across the musical spectrum, both at the Conservatory as well as in the Boston community, they will have networked sufficiently to reach out to create performances with large ensembles or small groups, performing music yet to be composed or repertoire from the canon;
- create and interpret work from their own artistic point of view developed through their unique understanding of who they are as an artist and their own personal mission; and
- create for themselves the artistic life they want using the technical tools, the musical knowledge, and the self-awareness and understanding gained from required coursework as well as their own elections. As well, they will know they can draw on the confidence developed through participation in and exposure to a broad array of performance and learning experiences. They will have experienced consistent one-on-one mentoring with a wide range of teachers who they can turn to for ongoing mentorship throughout the development of their career.
Your Future
Alumni of the Conservatory’s voice performance program have won international competitions and awards, hold positions with prestigious opera companies, and perform in a range of genres, including traditional and experimental opera, oratorio, musical theater, choral, new music, and early music. They develop new works, manage established opera companies, and launch new companies, such as Guerilla Opera and Boston Opera Collaborative. They work in outreach and community service, bringing music to underserved communities. Alumni of Boston Conservatory’s voice performance program are helping to shape the future of the industry and are contributing to their local and global communities in countless ways.
How to apply
