Music: Vocal & Choral Performance

Join us this fall and explore the ways singing and songs can help bring about lasting change, and how you can use your voice to help unite our country, our local communities, and the global community.

Each session will focus on vocal concepts including posture, breath management, diction/articulation, extending the vocal range, and resonance. The focus will be on their application to ALL styles and genres of music. Each day will also include yoga, Alexander Technique, and stretching exercises to help balance our vocal instruments!

We have a very specific format for voice classes, designed to be supportive, safe, encouraging, and challenging! We work with you individually, starting where you are, and progressing from there. You will notice throughout the class that many vocal issues people face are very similar, even when the voice types are very different. You will benefit no matter what your favorite genre is (classical, musical theatre, world music, jazz, or pop, or…).

This workshop is a great way to meet new friends and collaborators from all over the world who share your passion for singing. It will help keep your vocal instrument strong, especially if your school choral program is on hiatus.

Weekly Class Schedule

Classes will be held on Saturdays from 10-11:30am PDT/PST:

• 10-10:20 am PDT/PST – Vocal Warm-Up
• 10:20-11:30 am PDT/PST – Voice Class

Find the full schedule here.

Meet Your Faculty

Professors Desiree La Vertu, Olga Perez Flora, and Lori Marie Rios are outstanding vocalists, conductors and music educators. Together they are the Artistic Co-Directors of the Idyllwild Arts Summer Vocal-Choral Intensive. Performance credits include Disney Hall, Royce Hall, and the Hollywood Bowl. Soprano LaVertu is Director of Choral & Vocal Activities at Occidental College in Los Angeles, soprano Rios is Professor of Music at College of the Canyons in Santa Clarita, CA, and mezzo soprano Flora is Assistant Professor of Voice at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque.

What You Will Need

• Sheet music for two songs you will sing
• Strong wifi connection
• Basic working knowledge of Zoom
• Any electronic device with a working camera
• Secondary device on which you can play accompaniment tracks when you sing
• External microphone (if possible)
• Notebook or notepad for writing down concepts, exercises, questions
• Lots of space to move around in
• Water

If you have never used Zoom, check out this Zoom tutorial.