The Wales International Academy of Voice () was established by its founder, the Welsh

tenor A tenor is a type of male singing voice whose vocal range lies between the countertenor and baritone voice types. It is the highest male chest voice type. Composers typically write music for this voice in the range from the second B below m ...

CBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

, to provide advanced voice, music and drama coaching to young professional

opera Opera is a form of History of theatre#European theatre, Western theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by Singing, singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically ...

singers from all over the world in the early stages of their careers. It was opened in 2007 as the Cardiff International Academy of Voice and was funded by

Cardiff University Cardiff University () is a public research university in Cardiff, Wales. It was established in 1883 as the University College of South Wales and Monmouthshire and became a founding college of the University of Wales in 1893. It was renamed Unive ...

. Following Cardiff University's withdrawal of funding in 2010, the

University of Wales Trinity Saint David The University of Wales Trinity Saint David () is a public university with three main campuses in South West Wales, in Carmarthen, Lampeter and Swansea, a fourth campus in London, and learning centres in Cardiff, and Birmingham. The university ...

took over the partnership in June 2011 under the new name of the Wales International Academy of Voice.

History

The Academy opened in January 2007 with its first intake of students on year-long courses which began in the Autumn of each year from 2008 to 2009. The courses involved 30 weeks of instruction via individual coaching and

master class ''Master Class'' is a 1995 play by American playwright Terrence McNally, presented as a fictional master class by opera singer Maria Callas near the end of her life, in the 1970s. The play features incidental vocal music by Giuseppe Verdi, Giac ...

es as well as student participation in the Opera Barga and

Wexford Wexford ( ; archaic Yola dialect, Yola: ''Weiseforthe'') is the county town of County Wexford, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Wexford lies on the south side of Wexford Harbour, the estuary of the River Slaney near the southeastern corner of the ...

festivals. All vocal recitals by the Academy's students and many of its master classes have been open to the public. The Academy's many notable visiting instructors have included Carlo Rizzi,

Antonio Pappano Sir Antonio Pappano (born 30 December 1959) is an English-Italian conductor and pianist. He is currently music director of the Royal Opera House and chief conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra. Early life Pappano was born in Epping, Esse ...

Richard Bonynge Richard Alan Bonynge ( ) (born 29 September 1930) is an Australian conductor and pianist. He is the widower of Australian dramatic coloratura soprano Dame Joan Sutherland. Bonynge conducted virtually all of Sutherland's operatic performances ...

Della Jones Della Jones is a Welsh mezzo-soprano, particularly well known for her interpretations of works by Handel, Mozart, Rossini, Donizetti, and Britten. Early life Jones was born in Tonna, near Neath, Wales. She attended Neath Grammar School for Gir ...

, Rebecca Evans,

Ileana Cotrubas Ileana is a feminine given name commonly used in Romanian and other Romance language-speaking countries such as Spain and Italy. Etymology and Meaning The name ''Ileana'' is derived from the Greek name ''Helénē'' (Ἑλένη), meaning "tor ...

, Dame Anne Evans and Sir Jonathan Miller. In May 2010 Cardiff University announced that the Academy would close because of a lack of funds. In May 2011 Trinity Dewi Sant announced that the Academy would be re-launched in June 2011 under the name of Wales International Academy of Voice.

Notable alumni

Julia Lezhneva Julia Mikhaylovna Lezhneva (; born 5 December 1989) is a Russian soprano opera singer and recitalist, specializing in soprano and coloratura mezzo-soprano material of the 18th and early 19th century. She studied with Tamara Cherkasova, Irina Zhu ...

, soprano *

Mary-Jean O'Doherty Mary-Jean Anaïs O'Doherty (born 2 April 1982)Mary Jean Anais Odoherty in the ''Texas, U.S., Birth Index, 1903-1997'' is an Australian-American coloratura soprano. She was the first prize winner in the 2013 Paris Opera Awards. Life and career ...

, soprano

Notes

External links

Official website
{{coord, 51.505, -3.166, display=title, region:GB_scale:5000 Music schools in Wales 2007 establishments in Wales Educational institutions established in 2007

History

Notable alumni

See also

Notes

External links