CCM’s Departments of Opera and Voice provide one of the most comprehensive training programs for singers, opera coaches and opera directors in the United States.
You're invited to a day of discovery for prospective undergraduate singers from 1-6 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 7, 2023! Learn more about our renowned Bachelor of Music degree program in Voice Performance. This event is free of charge, but reservations are required. Learn more and RSVP
CCM offers an international faculty of dedicated educators who are also celebrated professionals in their own right, widely and currently active in their respective fields.
CCM sends its students out into the profession. Several national opera companies now hold auditions at the conservatory, and the Opera Department also hosts a series of informational talks by nationally renowned artists' managers, opera company managers, artistic directors, program directors, performers and coaches, all of whom are prominent professionals working both in America and in Europe.
CCM students have continued to make their way to Cincinnati Opera, singing in the chorus or entering the young-artist program and taking on supporting roles, before making significant careers in other opera houses.
Opera News
The most important aspect of CCM's voice program is the weekly private lesson with faculty. The low student-to-teacher ratio allows teachers to serve as advisors and mentors. Performance opportunities abound in solo, ensemble and dramatic settings. At least one solo recital is required as the capstone of the program, and students have the option of performing non-required recitals. Frequent studio recitals, master classes and opera scene workshops are scheduled, and CCM houses two audition choirs that perform each semester.
There are two full-length opera productions in CCM's Corbett Auditorium or Patricia Corbett Theater each year, in addition to several opera and/or cabaret productions in the Cohen Family Studio Theater. These annual offerings provide ample stage exposure, plus an additional opera project limited exclusively to undergraduates. Language instruction and elective opportunities are critical aspects of the study.
This four-year program covers a complete range of academic and performance activities. Senior year includes a requirement for six hours a week of Opera Workshop, studying movement, acting and role preparation that culminates in a fully-staged performance of opera scenes. Advanced students audition for roles in CCM's mainstage opera productions and studio and workshop presentations.
Candidates are offered a wide range of practical and academic classes, including foreign languages and diction, oratorio and vocal repertoire. In the first year, six hours per week of opera training is required, which covers movement, acting and work on opera scenes. In the second year, students can continue with classes in opera characterization, opera coaching and opera production. Students audition for major roles in mainstage opera productions, and studio and workshop performances.
The program is designed to promote the development of superior performing musicians and teachers. It offers singers with a high degree of proficiency and artistry a comprehensive selection of classes in music literature, music history and performance practices, with electives covering a broad range of classes in the Opera Department, and numerous opportunities to perform in recital and on the opera stage.
CCM's admissions process begins on August 1 (undergraduate) and September 1 (graduate) for entrance in the following year's fall semester. All application materials must be submitted on or before December 1 to be considered for specific scholarship awards. Visit the CCM Admissions website for additional application instructions.
Applicants must submit the required pre-screening materials via getacceptd.com/ccm on or before December 3 in order to be invited for an audition/interview and considered for admissions.
Applicants must submit the required pre-screening materials via getacceptd.com/ccm on or before December 3 in order to be invited for an audition/interview and considered for admissions.
Recorded auditions are not permitted.
To be considered for the Opera Scholarship Competition, you must complete and upload the application form along with your required pre-screening materials in Acceptd.
If invited to audition for your applied degree program, applicants must also prepare the following for the preliminary round audition (the preliminary round audition occurs on the same date as your assigned degree audition date):
Applicants must submit the required pre-screening materials via getacceptd.com/ccm on or before December 3 in order to be considered for admissions and invited for an audition.
The Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Vocal Performance is designed for the combination of artist, scholar and teacher. The successful DMA candidate exhibits an exceptional level of performance, has scholarly interests, and is motivated to prepare for a teaching career.
DMA applicants must submit two writing samples:
All pieces must be performed from memory, including the aria from an Oratorio, Mass or Cantata.
DMA applicants will have a separate interview with the Voice Faculty on the day of their in-person audition.
Recorded auditions are not permitted.
A Cognate is declared by all DMA students at CCM. It enables students to develop a secondary field of expertise. A minimum of 9 credit hours of specified course requirements are determined in consultation with the student’s Cognate committee chair, and approved by the student’s faculty advisor, Division Head and Director of Graduate Studies. Examples of Cognate areas include, but are not limited to, Choral Conducting, Pedagogy, Opera Direction, Arts Administration, specific areas of vocal repertoire/language, Music History, etc. Applicants should be prepared to discuss a potential area of interest for a Cognate during the interview at the in-person audition.
To be considered for the Opera Scholarship Competition, you must upload the completed application form along with your required pre-screening materials in Acceptd.
Applicants must also prepare the following for the preliminary round audition (the preliminary round audition occurs on the same date as your assigned degree audition date):
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CCM's artist diploma programs provide training in the art and craft of opera with one of the most comprehensive programs available anywhere in the world. These programs help a singer, coach or director develop the skills necessary to move with confidence onto the professional stage with a full understanding of the demands of the career.
one of the continent's major music schools
The Toronto Star
Please note: CCM’s Artist Diploma programs in Opera Stage Direction, Opera Coaching and Opera Vocal Performance will not be accepting applications for the 2024-25 academic year.
The program is limited to 12 singers who will perform at least four major roles in fully-staged productions. Students receive private coaching, intensive actor training and role preparation together with movement, period dance, language, audition and career management classes, and master classes with some of the finest artists in the world of opera.
In one of the few programs of its type in the nation, students develop linguistic, pianistic and coaching skills in the context of fully prepared original language productions. Opportunities are available to study conducting and take a wide range of vocal, stylistic and interpretative classes.
Candidates of proven ability and experience have a program tailored to their individual developmental needs, covering directing theory and practice, as well as acting, musical and foreign language skills, and areas of design and technical theater production. Students work as Assistant Directors on major productions and direct three productions of their own.
CCM's graduate admissions process begins on September 1 for entrance in the following year's fall semester. All application materials must be submitted on or before December 3 to be considered for specific scholarship awards. Visit the CCM Admissions website for additional application instructions.
Applicants must submit the required pre-screening materials via getacceptd.com/ccm on or before December 3 in order to be considered for admissions and invited for an audition.
Applicants must prepare one selection from each of the following categories (at least one selection must be played and sung simultaneously)
Applicants must submit the required pre-screening materials via getacceptd.com/ccm on or before December 3 in order to be considered for admissions and invited for an audition.
Recorded auditions are not permitted.
To be considered for the Opera Scholarship Competition, you must upload the completed application form along with your required pre-screening materials in Acceptd.
Applicants must also prepare the following for the preliminary round audition (the preliminary round audition occurs on the same date as your assigned degree audition date):
Applicants must submit the required pre-screening materials via getacceptd.com/ccm on or before December 3 in order to be considered for admissions and invited for an audition.
Once the application and pre-screening materials are submitted, selected applicants will be scheduled by the Opera Department for a phone interview.
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For an effort still in its first decade, [OF:NW has] an enviable track record.
Opera News
Opera Fusion: New Works (OF:NW) is a dynamic partnership between CCM and Cincinnati Opera. Created in 2011 to foster the development of new American operas, OF:NW has grown into a nationally recognized collaboration which is not only advancing in repertoire, but also serving as an inspiring example of a successful joint venture between an educational institution and a professional performing arts organization.
OF:NW offers composers or composer/librettist teams the opportunity to workshop an opera during a 10-day residency in Cincinnati. Residencies utilize the facilities, personnel, and talent of both CCM and Cincinnati Opera. The workshops are cast with a combination of CCM students and professional artists, and each workshop concludes with a free public presentation of excerpts followed by an audience Q&A session, all of which is streamed online.
September 18, 2023
UC’s College-Conservatory of Music will welcome a variety of new faculty and staff members to its roster of distinguished performing and media arts experts this fall. The following new appointments have been announced as of Aug 15, 2023. Additional new hires will be announced later this summer.
September 15, 2023
You're invited to a day of discovery for prospective undergraduate singers from 1-6 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 7, 2023! Learn more about the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music's renowned Bachelor of Music degree program in Voice Performance. This informative event is free of charge, but reservations are required.
September 8, 2023
UC's College-Conservatory of Music kicks off its fall performance season in September with a variety of concerts starring the next generation of performing and media artists. Local media featured the college's upcoming events in preview coverage shared by CityBeat, Movers and Makers, Behind the Curtain Cincinnati and All About the Arts.
August 16, 2023
CCM students can now access counseling services within the CCM Village thanks to the addition of a CAPS embedded clinician. A member of UC’s Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS) staff, Dalziel Reliford-Stone (she/her/hers) is a Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor with Supervision (LPCC-S) who will serve as an embedded clinician for CCM and DAAP. In this new position, Dalziel hopes to work with students and staff to support a culture that embraces authenticity, self-acceptance and wholeness.
August 15, 2023
Experience world-class performances by the next generation of performing and media artists at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music (CCM)! The college’s fall 2023 schedule of ticketed events is now available; tickets are on sale beginning 1 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 15 through the CCM Box Office website.
June 20, 2023
UC College-Conservatory of Music students and alumni are taking over Music Hall during the Cincinnati Opera's Summer Festival.
April 24, 2023
CCM proudly celebrates Teresa Perrotta (MM Vocal Performance, ’19 and AD Opera Performance, ’21) and Chuanyuan Liu (AD Opera Performance, ’23), who have advanced through the district and regional levels of the prestigious Metropolitan Opera Eric and Dominique Laffont Competition to reach the semifinal round, held on the Met stage in New York April 17.
April 17, 2023
Join the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music Philharmonia as they celebrate the close of another fantastic season with Mahler and the Eternal at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, April 22. Tickets are on sale now through the CCM Box Office.
