Online Learning Courses

Opera 101: Voice Types

https://metguild.thinkific.com/courses/Opera101-VoiceTypes

The Metropolitan Opera Guild, New York, NY, USA
Instructor | Course Producer

• Description: The spectrum of voice types in opera is complex and varied. This Opera 101 course will focus on the different categories of voice types found throughout the operatic repertoire and explore how singers select the roles that are best suited to their voices. Topics to be covered also include the fach system and comparing and contrasting voices of the past and present. In addition to the video lectures, selected readings and handouts are provided for further exploration.
• The breakdown of topics covered in this course are as follows:
  • Lesson 1: Introduction to Operatic Voice Types and the Fach System (Lecture Video = 8:25 mins)
  • Lesson 2: Sopranos (Lecture Video = 55:00 mins)
  • Lesson 3: Mezzo-sopranos (Lecture Video = 41:42 mins)
  • Lesson 4: Tenors (Lecture Video = 44:27 mins)
  • Lesson 5: Baritones (Lecture Video = 43:21 mins)
  • Lesson 6: Basses (Lecture Video = 36:36 mins)

Opera Boot Camp: Introduction to Operatic Singing

https://metguild.thinkific.com/courses/opera-bootcamp-introduction-to-operatic-singing

The Metropolitan Opera Guild, New York, NY, USA
Instructor | Course Producer

• Description: Explore the different components of what singers go through to train, develop, and care for their voices with this inside look at the nuts and bolts of the trade.
• The breakdown of topics covered in this course are as follows:
  • Lesson 1: Introductory Terminology and History
    • Part 1: Terminology and Jargon (75 mins)
    • Part 2: History of Singing (48 mins)
  • Lesson 2: Career Paths and Training
    • Part 1 (65 mins)
    • Part 2 (55 mins)
  • Lesson 3: Vocal Care and Vocal Growth
    • Part 1 (60 mins)
    • Part 2 (21 mins)
  • Lesson 4: Working with Vocal Coaches, Directors, and Conductors
    • Part 1 (60 mins)
    • Part 2 (40 mins)

Opera Boot Camp: Conductors and Conducting

https://metguild.thinkific.com/courses/opera-bootcamp-conductors-and-conducting
The Metropolitan Opera Guild, New York, NY, USA
Instructor | Course Producer

• Description: Conductors are vitally important in the opera house, leading and directing the ensemble of musical forces that comes together during a performance. In this first ever Opera Boot Camp experience adapted for online learning, lecturer Naomi Barrettara explores the role of the conductor in opera, discussing the history, mechanics, and musical elements of conducting, the extraordinary careers of some legendary conductors, and ends the course with a special interview with conductor and composer Victoria Bond.
• The breakdown of topics covered in this course are as follows:
  • Lesson 1: Basic Terminology and the Evolution of Conducting 1600-1850 (approx. 90 mins of lecture video footage)
    • Part 1: Terminology and Conducting Basics (28 mins)
    • Part 2: Terminology and Conducting Basics (31 mins)
    • Part 3: History of Conducting, 1600-1850 (26 mins)
    • Part 4: History of Conducting, 1600-1850 (24 mins)
  • Lesson 2: The Evolution of Conducting 1850-Present  (approx. 180 mins of lecture video footage)
    • Part 1: Conducting in the Era of Wagner (58 mins)
    • Part 2: Conducting in the Post-Wagner Era (50 mins)
    • Part 3: Evolution of Conducting Outside of Germany (38 mins)
    • Part 4: North American Conductors in the 20th-Century (38 mins)
  • Lesson 3: Legendary Conductors and Their Influence
    • Part 1: Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Carlo Maria Giulini, and Herbert von Karajan (58 mins)
    • Part 2: Wilhelm Furtwängler and Arturo Toscanini (46 mins)
    • Part 3: Leonard Bernstein, Georg Solti, and Valery Gergiev (43 mins)
    • Part 4: Antonio Pappano, Marin Alsop, Eun Sun Kim, Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla, and Speranza Scappucci (45 mins)
  • Lesson 4: An Interview with Conductor and Composer Victoria Bond
    • Part 1: Interview with Victoria Bond (25 mins)
    • Part 2: Interview with Victoria Bond, continued (33 mins)
    • Part 3: Interview with Victoria Bond, conclusion (36 mins)

Introduction to Score Reading

https://metguild.thinkific.com/courses/introscorereading
The Metropolitan Opera Guild, New York, NY, USA
Instructor | Course Producer

• Description: This course is designed as an introduction to music notation, terminology, and score elements so that you can learn how to follow along in a score with your favorite opera recordings. Learning the basic elements of music notation helps illuminate how composers documented their musical ideas, and what kinds of information performers have to work with when bringing a score to life. Musical concepts and terminology throughout the course are organized around the seven main elements of music: melody, harmony, rhythm, timbre, texture, dynamics, and form. In addition to discussing notation terminology, symbols, and musical concepts in each lecture video, students are provided with a variety of musical examples to illustrate the concepts discussed. Additional readings, handouts, and exercises are also provided.
• The breakdown of topics covered in this course are as follows:
  • Lesson 1: Introduction to Score Reading
  • Lesson 2: Melody and Harmony
  • Lesson 3: Rhythm
  • Lesson 4: Dynamics, Articulation, and Tempo
  • Lesson 5: Timbre and Texture
  • Lesson 6: Musical Form
  • Lesson 7: Additional Resources

Operatic Libretti and Librettists

https://metguild.thinkific.com/courses/libretti
The Metropolitan Opera Guild, New York, NY, USA
Instructor | Course Producer

• Description: This course explores the life and work of Italian librettists for operas recently performed at The Metropolitan Opera, including Lorenzo Da Ponte, Salvadore Cammarano, Giuseppe Giacosa, and Luigi Illica. In addition to discussions of biographical and historical contexts, the readings, handouts and listening excerpts will focus on the exploration of source materials behind libretto texts. Participants will also learn about the process of adaptation and interpretation of texts within operatic frameworks, and the relationship between text and music in the creative process. Each chapter includes a series of lesson components, including video lectures, readings, and handouts curated by the instructor. Each reading is accompanied by a set of reading response questions, crafted by the instructor to aid in self-guided learning.
  • • The breakdown of topics covered in this course are as follows:
      • Lesson 1: Introduction to Operatic Libretti
      • Lesson2: Introduction to Italian Poetic Meter
      • Lesson 3: Lorenzo Da Ponte (Highlighted operas include Così fan tutte and Don Giovanni)
      • Lesson 4: Salvadore Cammarano (Highlighted operas include Lucia di Lammermoor and Il trovatore)
      • Lesson 5: Giuseppe Giacosa & Luigi Illica (Highlighted operas include La bohème, Tosca, and Madama Butterfly)