Workshop Schedule  l   Presenters  l   Hotel Information  

Opera & Musical Theatre in the 21st Century  

View Sessions at NATS Live Learning Center

Set in New York City, this collaborative event planned by NATS, the National Opera Association (NOA), and Opera America offers a schedule of sessions whose focus is on exciting trends in opera and musical theatre and the myriad ways in which tradition and innovation are converging in these art forms. Current Broadway composers and performers will coach young performers; opera directors will demonstrate successful techniques in working with advanced singers; a set designer will show how to employ projections in productions; and experienced teachers will cover skills in acting, contemporary singing technique, English diction, stage combat, and much more. 

Call for Master Class Singers

The theme of this Winter Workshop (an event planned by NATS and NOA along with the cooperation of OPERA America) is Opera and Musical Theatre in the 21st Century: Tradition and Innovation Converge.  There will be a number of sessions dealing with interpretive and technical skills involved in singing both opera and musical theatre repertoire.  Presenters will include Broadway star Victoria Clark and musical director Ted Sperling, composer Andrew Lippa, director and teacher Stephen Wadsworth, director Nicholas Muni, and NYC voice teacher Stephanie Samaras.

For the master classes, we are looking for: 

• Undergraduates, graduate students, and emerging professionals
• Students offering musical theatre repertoire
• Singers offering operatic repertoire
• Singers to take part in a master class devoted to English Diction, singing either classical or musical theatre repertoire
• Classically trained singers (including a few older professionals) who have no experience singing contemporary styles of singing, including pop, but would like to work on these genres
• Singer/pianist duos to present pieces by Kurt Weill
• Specifically, a soprano and a mezzo-soprano to present pieces by Kurt Weill.

Special Considerations: 

• Applicants must be available to sing at any time during the convention.  Those selected will be responsible for their own travel and housing expenses.
• Student singers invited to sing in master class sessions must pay a $50 participation fee entitling them to attend all workshop sessions on the day of their participation…a significant reduction in the daily rate of attendance OR they can pay a $100 workshop registration fee and attend all sessions throughout the three-day convention.
• Both NATS members and non-members desiring to perform on a master class must pay the single day rate or have registered for the full workshop.
• A number of alternates will also be selected.  Alternates must also be available to sing at any time during the 4-day convention.  If an alternate is invited to sing, we will do our best to give him/her sufficient prior notice.  Alternates will not have to pay participation fees unless they are chosen to sing.

Applications Instructions:

• Applications must be submitted via an email message containing a link to a current video (either YouTube or other video format) of the applicant performing appropriate repertoire, and with a current resume in Word or PDF format attached.  The applicant’s complete contact information (mailing address, email address, phone number) must be included. 
• Applications should be sent to vpworkshops@nats.org and received by midnight on November 1, 2013.  Additional information regarding the convention can be found at http://www.nats.org/cgi/page.cgi/national-workshops.html.

We hope that both teachers and students will apply to participate in the master classes! 

Kathleen Arecchi, NATS VP for Workshop

Hotel Information

The Roosevelt Hotel, New York opened in 1924 at the height of the Jazz Age. The Roosevelt continues to impress guests in its prime location at Madison Avenue and 45th Street in midtown Manhattan - located just blocks from Times Square and the theatre district.

Special Attendee Room Rate: $179.00/night
(Toll Free Call 1-888-833-3969) Call the hotel directly at 212-661-9600 to make reservations and ask for NOA rate.

Featured Presenters

Andrew Lippa is a renowned composer/lyricist whose awards include a Tony nomination, Grammy nomination, the Gilman/Gonzalez-Falla Theater Foundation Award and ASCAP’s Richard Rodgers/New Horizons Award. Lippa wrote the music and lyrics for the musical Big Fish that is currently running on Broadway at the Neil Simon Theatre. Other notable works include The Addams Family, The Farnsworth Invention and The Wild Party. Interview by Rick Walters.