After celebrating 25 years as one of the most successful and impactful professional development programs for teachers of voice in 2016, the National Association of Teachers of Singing’s NATS Intern Program is introducing expanded professional development opportunities in 2017 for collaborative pianists.

Joining distinguished master teachers of voice Peggy Baroody, Kenneth Bozeman, Mary Saunders Barton, and W. Stephen Smith will be celebrated collaborative pianist Warren Jones (pictured, right), who will be the first collaborative pianist master teacher in the program’s history.

Jones’ eclectic career has taken him to virtually every corner of the musical world. He performs with some of today’s best-known artists: Stephanie Blythe, Anthony Dean Griffey, Bo Skovhus, Eric Owens, John Relyea and Richard “Yongjae” O’Neill. He is the Robert and Mercedes Eichholz Principal Pianist for the exciting Santa Barbara-based chamber music group Camerata Pacifica. Also a noted pedagogue, Jones teaches in a variety of summer programs and is a professor at the Manhattan School of Music.

In addition to the twelve voice interns selected, the program will add three collaborative pianist interns to the program who will work with Jones and the other master teachers. The program environment is structured to improve the coaching skills of the interns as well as promote the interdependent relationships necessary to provide the best instruction for students, who often are independently taught by coaches and voice teachers.

In another first, the program will be held for the first time in Canada at the University of Toronto. Dr. Lorna McDonald will be the local host. NATS Past President Norman Spivey serves as the program’s coordinator.

“NATS has been expanding programming and providing services that are inclusive of our collaborative pianist colleagues in recent years with the advice and assistance of some of our industry’s leading voices in the field,” said NATS Executive Director Allen Henderson. “After much discussion at our past two national board meetings the timing seemed right and the resources were allocated by the Board to fund this expansion.”

With partial funding from the NATS Foundation, the program is an exceptional training experience, pairing expert master teachers with talented young members of NATS. Within an intensive format designed to promote the dynamic exchange of ideas and techniques, the goal is to improve substantially the studio teaching skills of voice interns and the coaching skills of collaborative piano interns.

Complete information on the 2017 NATS Intern Program including application requirements can be found HERE. Collaborative pianists who wish to join NATS can find complete information HERE. 

Click HERE to view photos of past NATS interns and master teachers.