Voice student working with guest artist in master class
Photo: Master class with visiting soprano Deborah Voigt.
 

Welcome to the voice performance at the University of Colorado Boulder College of Music!

We offer a variety of options for undergraduate and graduate vocal performance majors, including the undergraduate Opera Scenes class, which culminates in a public performance each fall; participation in a variety of choral ensembles, including performances of major choral works and CU’s Holiday Festival celebration in December; master classes with prominent performing artists such as Thomas Hampson, Martina Arroyo, Michelle DeYoung and Anna Christy; lead, supporting and chorus roles with the Eklund Opera Program productions (by audition); degree recitals (for BM/BMT/BME students); departmental recitals in our Friday afternoon student performance series and musical productions with the CU Department of Theatre & Dance.

Voice majors receive weekly individual lessons from faculty or graduate TA's (under the direct supervision of John Seesholtz). All BM and BME students will have applied lessons with our faculty during all 4 years of their degree. In addition to singing in choral ensembles, students regularly work and perform with colleagues in our collaborative piano department as well as with renowned master class clinicians, guest conductors and directors for the Eklund Opera program.

We, the voice faculty at CU Boulder, pride ourselves on the professional and collegial atmosphere of our department. In keeping with our philosophy of mutual support, we maintain an “Open Studio Policy” in which students are allowed to observe lessons taught by any teacher, with the prior approval of the teacher and the student of the lesson in question.

Degrees offered:

  • Bachelor of Music in Performance
  • Bachelor of Arts in Music
  • Master of Music in Performance
  • Artist Diploma in Opera and Solo Vocal Performance

jennifer birdJennifer Bird

American soprano Jennifer Bird enjoys a busy and varied singing career in the U.S. and Europe, having built a reputation as a charismatic, intelligent and versatile performer of more than 50 roles in opera, operetta and musical theater, as well as much of the standard oratorio and concert literature. As the recipient of a Rotary International Ambassadorial Scholarship, Bird studied in Germany in the Opernklasse of the Hamburg Musikhochschule, where she joined the vocal studio of renowned soprano Judith Beckmann. Soon thereafter she began singing at the Landestheater Coburg and then at the Bremer Theater where she became a pillar of the soloist ensemble, singing major roles in the lyric and lyric-coloratura soprano repertory and, in Coburg, twice earning the Audience Favorite Prize. Engagements followed at the Vienna Volksoper, Nationaltheater Mannheim, Theater Bonn, Theater Chemnitz, Theater Lübeck, Theater Würzburg and Theater Hagen, among others. MORE

matthew chellisMatthew Chellis

Matthew Chellis is considered one of America’s most versatile singing actors. He has appeared with opera companies, orchestras and theatre companies in North and South America and Europe. Chellis has sung over twenty principal roles with New York City Opera and sung with Washington National Opera, Frankfurt Opera, Atlanta Opera, Opera Bogata and Calgary Opera to name a few. Concert performances include numerous appearances at the Kennedy Center, Carnegie Hall, Avery Fisher Hall and Boston Symphony Hall. Chellis has taught at New York University and Roosevelt University’s Chicago College of Performing Arts prior to his appointment at CU Boulder. He is the founder and executive director of the Up North Vocal Institute–an intensive four week vocal training program located in northern Michigan. MORE

Jennifer DeDominiciJennifer DeDominici

Jennifer DeDominici has a versatile performing career spanning musical theatre, opera, concert work, and even film. Some of her favorite operatic roles include Dorabella in Così fan tutte, Carmen in Carmen, Hänsel in Hänsel und Gretel, Rosina in Il barbiere di Siviglia, Mrs. Jones in Street Scene, Angelina in La Cenerentola, Zweite Dame in Die Zauberflöte, Siebel in Faust and 3rd Secretary in Nixon in China. In the musical theater world, she has played Francesca in Bridges of Madison County, Guenevere in CamelotCharity in Barnum, Maria in The Sound of Music, Mary Poppins, Petra in A Little Night Music, Judy in 9 to 5, Sarah Brown in Guys and Dolls, Aldonza in Man of La Mancha, Claudia in Nine and Nellie Forbush in South Pacific, among others. MORE

andrew garlandAndrew Garland

Baritone Andrew Garland is widely recognized as a leader in recital work with dozens of performances around the country including Carnegie Hall with pianist Warren Jones and programs of modern American songs all over the Unites States and in Canada. Jones, Marilyn Horne, Steven Blier, a number of American composers and several major music publications all endorse him as a highly communicative singer leading the way for the song recital into the 21st Century. Garland has five other recordings on the Telarc, Naxos, Roven Records and Azica Labels. During the 2016-2017 season, Garland performed in the world premiere of William Bolcom’s “Dinner at Eight” with Minnesota Opera, joins the Houston Symphony for the world premiere of “The Conquest Requiem” by Gabriela Lena Frank, debuts as Prior Walter in “Angels in America” with New York City Opera, reprises Guglielmo in “Cosí fan tutte” with Ash Lawn Opera and Dancaïre in “Carmen” with Boston Lyric Opera. MORE

mutsumi motekiMutsumi Moteki

Since her college years in Tokyo, Japan, Mutsumi Moteki has been active as a vocal coach/accompanist. She received extensive training in this area from Westminster Choir College and University of Michigan as well as prestigious summer programs such as Music Academy of the West, Steans Institute for Young Artists, Franz-Schubert-Institut in Baden bei Wien and Conservatoire de musique in Genève. Known for her effective and unique vocal coaching style, which advocates beautiful legato singing as well as the fine details of diction and the interpretation of text and music, Moteki has taught master classes for singers and pianists at many universities and colleges in the U.S., Taiwan and Japan. She is currently a professor at the University of Colorado Boulder, where she teaches singing diction and vocal repertoire. MORE

Abigail NimsAbigail Nims

Mezzo-soprano Abigail Nims has established herself as a musician of integrity and versatility, garnering praise for her performances of repertoire from the Baroque to contemporary premieres. Acclaimed for her committed interpretations and tonal beauty in the concert repertoire, Nims has performed as soloist with renowned orchestras and festivals including the San Francisco Symphony, the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, the Detroit Symphony, the Baltimore Symphony, the São Paulo Symphony, Orquestra Sinfónica Nacional de México, Teatro Municipal, Santiago, Chile, Orchestra Sinfonica di Milano Giuseppe Verdi, Boston Baroque, the Bach Festival Society of Winter Park (FL), the Indianapolis Symphony, the Louisiana Philharmonic, and the Masterworks Choir and Orchestra at Carnegie Hall. In Colorado, Nims and has appeared as soloist with the Colorado Symphony, the Colorado Music Festival, the Colorado Springs Philharmonic, the Boulder Philharmonic, the Colorado MahlerFest and is a regular soloist with the Colorado Bach Ensemble. MORE

jeremy regerJeremy Reger

Teaching and mentorship are Reger’s true passions and he’s worked with some of the top vocal performers and coaches in the country, including at the Minnesota Opera, Indiana Opera Theater, the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra and the Ann Arbor Opera. In summer 2014 he was a coach and performer at the Opera Studio de Recife in Brazil. Reger has also been on the faculty of Music Academy of the West, and worked for Virginia Opera. A strong supporter of local arts organizations, he has also played with the Virginia Symphony, the Williamsburg Symphonia and the Cantabile Singers Art Song Project. MORE

john seesholtzJohn Seesholtz

John Seesholtz, dramatic baritone, is currently the director of vocal pedagogy at CU Boulder, president of the COWY National Association of Teachers of Singing (Colorado Governor), resident artist with Denver Art Song Project and instructor at two young artist programs: La Musica Lirica and Up North Vocal Institute. Seesholtz has published two articles with the Journal of Singing, “The Origin of the Verdi Baritone,” which was recently featured and quoted on the MET Opera Podcast, and “The AIDS Quilt Songbook and It’s Uncollected Works.” Seesholtz holds vocal performance and pedagogy degrees from University of Michigan (MM), University of Texas at San Antonio (BM) and the University of North Texas (DMA). While working on his doctorate, Seesholtz was awarded the Graduate Music Student of the Year award from University of North Texas. MORE