A 2011 NATS Intern's Perspective:
by Soon Cho

Recently, National Association of Teachers of Singing announced its 2012 Intern Program, an exciting and innovative venture that seeks to pair experienced and recognized master teachers of voice with talented young members of NATS. Within a format designed to promote the dynamic exchange of ideas and techniques, the goal is to substantially improve the studio teaching skills of these promising young teachers. Soon Cho, a 2011 NATS Intern Program participant, shares her experiences.

The 2011 NATS Intern Program was life-inspiring. As one of twelve young teachers chosen to participate in the prestigious program on the beautiful campus of University of Wisconsin – Eau Claire, the ten days felt like I was training for the Indy 500 of voice teaching. The "training," headed by NATS Past President Dr. Scott McCoy and a team of experts, was comprised of structured days scheduled with teaching sessions, special topic seminars, master classes, and performances by interns, master teachers, and students. For me, the race was the tenure process in which I am currently going into my fifth year as an Assistant Professor at Baylor University in Waco, Texas. By the end of the program the big race redefined itself into a life-long journey to continue to grow as a singer, performer, and a person, in order to become a more effective teacher without a particular timeline in mind. This particular transformation was achieved through the mentorship of the master teachers and seminar speakers, the community building with the fellow interns, and the life-long friendships developed through dialogues over laughter and mouth-watering Wisconsin cuisine.

2011 NATS Intern Program Participants
Photo courtesy of R|S Design

Each morning, mentoring activities with a pre-assigned master teacher were established with a particular teaching component. I had the privilege of being mentored by Dr. Christopher Arneson from Westminster Choir College of Rider University. Other master teachers this year included Claudia Catania, Marietta Simpson, and David Small. Each intern taught four one-hour voice lessons to two students (a male and a female). The eight one-on-one teaching sessions were observed by the master teacher and two fellow interns in our assigned group. After each teaching session, the constructive feedback given by Dr. Arneson identified my strengths and weaknesses and immediately provided helpful suggestions to better achieve a specific goal for the student during the next lesson. Along with the repertoire sessions presented by Dr. Arneson and Cynthia Vaughn, this teaching component made the most impact in my teaching. Other special topic sessions presented by each master teacher and other experts in the field gave me insight to assess the importance of targeting the unique gifts we all have as young teachers while steadily work on the areas that need improvement.

The community building of twelve interns, who came from different academic and professional backgrounds, was conducive to the learning environment because we all had something in common: a desire to learn in order to be more efficient voice teachers and thus help our students to become successful in the art of singing. I believe each participant was affirmed of our strengths and challenged to build up our weaknesses through continuous learning and application with fortitude. By day four, our brains were overloaded with information from teaching, attending seminars and the continuous interchanging of ideas, but we felt refreshed and rejuvenated intermittently through performances of master teachers Marietta Simpson and David Small, and through each other's performances in master classes, repertoire presentations, and lecture-recitals. Another important lesson learned was that we were reminded that we were creative artistic beings and that we had the unique opportunity to keep being innovative and expressive as Claudia Catania poignantly challenged all the interns in her seminar. The sense of community through mutual respect and unconditional support for each other was displayed and exemplified by the master teachers' and seminar speakers' harmonious spirit and camaraderie.

Life-long relationships were developed professionally and personally. Through example and shared wisdom from the master teachers, I have been challenged to aspire to be a worthy teacher through continuous learning, reading, applying and creating, while maintaining a balanced life for the sake of longevity and constancy. From my intern colleagues, I have learned that we are all in this together and teaching is not about us, so we can put aside our insecurities and teach the students what we know best and, in time, we all have the potential to become a master teacher ourselves. I have heard from several past interns that this program was life changing. For me, this program was more life inspiring. In fact, I want to continue on this path, striving for new ways to achieve excellence. My gratitude goes to the NATS Intern Program for this new outlook and the best "training" I have received for the long but rewarding life journey.

Applications for the 2012 Intern Program will be taken until December 15, 2011. Those selected will attend a ten-day intensive continuing education program at Colorado State University – Fort Collins in June 2012. Special lectures and demonstrations will be presented by master teachers, special guests, and NATS' vocal literature liaison, Cynthia Vaughn. While applications will be accepted from all active NATS members at http://intern.nats.org, independent studio teachers are strongly urged to apply. Questions about the Program can be directed to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .