Performance
The members of the performance faculty of the Yale School of Music are internationally recognized artists and teachers. At Yale they work with students from many countries in programs that are broadly based and intensely professional. Work in both solo and ensemble performance is supplemented by a comprehensive program of study in musical analysis and history. Students participate in the Yale Philharmonia, New Music New Haven, Yale Opera, and the extensive chamber music program. Master classes, special seminars, and residencies of distinguished guest artists are sponsored each year by the school. Students are urged to explore courses in music literature, analysis, and bibliography as an important component of their course of study, and to take advantage of courses and activities in other areas of the university. In this extraordinarily rich musical environment, Yale provides a unique opportunity for the cultivation of each individual student’s potential for artistic growth.
Strings
Augustin Hadelich, Ani Kavafian (area coordinator), Soovin Kim, Tai Murray, Wendy Sharp, and Kyung Yu, violin; Ettore Causa, viola; Paul Watkins and Ole Akahoshi, cello; Donald Palma, double bass
The violin faculty encourages students to become their own best teacher, first through explanation and demonstration, and eventually through critical self-awareness. No single method is stressed; rather, an approach is designed for each individual student. With input from their professors, students are encouraged to plan their repertoire proactively for the period of time they are at Yale. The importance of playing with utmost musicianship, a strong sense of rhythm, and knowledge of the musical score are all stressed, alongside skills of musical collaboration, as all of the above are paramount to becoming a successful violinist and musician.
The approach to viola instruction stresses the overriding importance of musical language as well as technical mastery of the instrument. The search for beauty in performance is the ultimate goal; the production of an expressive sound and an acute awareness of phrasing in interpretation are also constantly kept in mind. An independent and broad exploration of viola literature, including new compositions written for the instrument, is encouraged.
The method of cello instruction is based upon the belief that even the most imaginative musician is prevented from achieving the highest potential if limited by technical deficiencies. The student, therefore, concentrates first on the removal of tension, then learns to involve the entire body in cello playing and to experience the physical sensations associated with facility on the instrument. When the player and the instrument function as an efficient unit, the student begins to explore the vast subtleties of sound, phrasing, and interpretation available to those who have thoroughly mastered the cello.
The Yale School of Music offers the double bassist an opportunity to refine technique and musicianship while gaining a truer understanding of the physical aspects of playing the double bass. Preparation for orchestra auditions, solo performances, chamber music collaborations, and all aspects of contemporary writing for the double bass is emphasized in degrees corresponding to the students’ goals.
Woodwind and Brass
Kevin Cobb, trumpet; Scott Hartman, trombone; Carol Jantsch, tuba; Frank Morelli, bassoon; Tara O’Connor (area coordinator), flute; William Purvis, horn; David Shifrin, clarinet; Stephen Taylor, oboe
The curriculum for woodwind and brass students is designed to train them for the highest levels of the profession, but also to become cultural leaders as the landscape of music in our society continues to evolve. Students receive weekly lessons and seminars that focus on performance topics (mock auditions, solo preparation, ensemble playing in their area) along with broader subjects. Recognizing that experience with chamber music is the basis of all truly musical playing, woodwind and brass players all participate in chamber music every semester at YSM, and those time periods and spaces are protected from other activities. Students also participate in Yale Philharmonia and bring cutting-edge compositions to life in New Music New Haven. The Morris Steinert Collection of Musical Instruments at Yale is a valuable source of information and inspiration for YSM students and faculty, as well as replica instruments that can be loaned out for early music projects.
Guitar
João Luiz Rezende
The weekly guitar seminar includes performances of newly learned solo repertoire and chamber music as well as discussions on a variety of topics, including interpretation, arranging, technique, pedagogy, master-class teaching, programming, memorization, competitions, recording, and career development. Each year in the course, students are required to write an étude and an arrangement, and to present a lecture. The seminar also requires that, prior to graduation, students perform a twenty-minute outreach concert in the New Haven public schools.
A guest master class takes place each term. Recent artists have included Leo Brouwer, Odair Assad, Eliot Fisk, David Russell, SoloDuo, Los Angeles Guitar Quartet, Raphaella Smits, Roland Dyens, David Leisner, Anthony Newman, and Hopkinson Smith. A biennial Guitar Extravaganza features performances, master classes, and pedagogical discussions with luminaries in the field. In the two-year guitar program each student is strongly encouraged to prepare two solo recital programs, a concerto, and four chamber works. The final degree recital should be performed from memory.
Harp
June Han
In addition to weekly lessons and studio classes, harpists have the opportunity to perform with a diverse range of ensembles, including chamber music groups, the Yale Philharmonia, and New Music New Haven. Harp students also regularly compete in the school’s annual Woolsey Hall Concerto Competition, which offers winners the opportunity to perform as soloists with the Yale Philharmonia. In individual lessons, students work on a broad repertoire that prepares them for international harp competitions and professional orchestral auditions.
Percussion
Robert van Sice
The percussion program offers three primary areas of study: solo marimba/percussion, orchestral percussion, and contemporary chamber music. Students receive a weekly private lesson and attend an orchestral repertoire seminar. Required ensembles include Yale Philharmonia, New Music New Haven, and the Yale Percussion Group.
Piano
Boris Berman (area coordinator), Robert Blocker, Melvin Chen, Alexander Korsantia (visiting), Elizabeth Parisot, and Wei-Yi Yang, piano; and guests
The close collaboration of piano faculty members working with one another is one of the unique features of Yale’s piano department. Piano students have regular opportunities to play in master classes and receive additional individual lessons, as well as chamber music coaching, by faculty other than their major studio teachers. Moreover, many internationally acclaimed pianists visit the school each year to give recitals, lectures, and master classes.
The main emphasis of the piano program is on solo performance; however, ensemble playing, accompanying, and teaching play an important role in the piano major’s studies at Yale. This all-encompassing training is given so that graduates are superbly equipped to make their way in the highly competitive world of music today. Each year, every piano student is expected to give at least one solo recital, to perform with instrumentalists and/or singers, and to play chamber and contemporary music. There are myriad performing opportunities on campus and beyond. Many piano students compete in the school’s annual Woolsey Hall Concerto Competition, which offers winners the opportunity to perform as soloists with the Yale Philharmonia. An all-Steinway school, the Yale School of Music maintains good grand pianos in all concert halls, studios, and practice rooms; the excellent practice facilities include access to faculty studios for practice.
In addition to the full-tuition scholarship and a living stipend given to all students at the Yale School of Music, pianists have ample opportunities to earn extra money at Yale through teaching and accompanying. Each year, top students are given monetary awards and named scholarships. Yale pianists have been participants and top prizewinners in numerous important international competitions worldwide.
Chamber Music
Brentano String Quartet, members of the performance faculty, and guest artists performing in the Oneppo Chamber Music Series
Developing musicianship is the goal of every aspiring musician. The surest path to this goal is the study and performance of the masterworks of chamber music literature. Under the guidance of the faculty and visiting artists, chamber music is studied in depth, and traditions and stylistic differences are explored. Concerts by visiting ensembles are open to students.
Chamber music holds a place of great importance in the curriculum at Yale. An effort is made to provide each student with an opportunity to play in various ensembles. Students also have the opportunity to rehearse and perform in chamber music concerts with their faculty coaches.
Student chamber music performances take place not only at the School of Music but also in various venues on the Yale campus and in the surrounding communities.
Harpsichord
Arthur Haas
A performance major in harpsichord is offered in all the graduate levels. Candidates for the major need not have extensive harpsichord experience when they apply, but they must exhibit great potential in the field, both as soloists and as collaborative artists. During their residency, students explore music from the late Renaissance through the pre-Classic era, with the added possibility of contemporary repertoire. They have the opportunity to study, practice, and perform on antique keyboard instruments at the world-class Morris Steinert Collection of Musical Instruments.
Harpsichordists are expected to study advanced basso continuo skills and will be assigned appropriate works with other YSM students in the chamber music program. In addition, they enroll in a Baroque performance practice seminar. Harpsichord students learn tuning and maintenance skills and are expected to help care for the early keyboard collection at the school.
Organ
Martin Jean and James O’Donnell, organ; Walden Moore, Richard Webster, Balint Karosi, service playing; Jeffrey Brillhart, improvisation
The major in organ prepares students for careers as church musicians, soloists, informed teachers, and for doctoral-level studies. The departmental seminar is devoted to a comprehensive survey of organ literature from all musical periods. In addition to individual coaching from the resident faculty in repertoire, improvisation, and church music skills, majors receive individual lessons from renowned visiting artists who come to Yale for one week each year. In recent years the visiting artists have included Marie-Claire Alain, Martin Baker, Michel Bouvard, Sophie-Véronique Cauchefer-Choplin, David Craighead, Vincent Dubois, Hans-Ola Ericsson, Michael Gaillit, Jon Gillock, Naji Hakim, Martin Haselböck, Susan Landale, Olivier Latry, Jon Laukvik, Rachel Laurin, Ludger Lohmann, Renée Anne Louprette, Christophe Mantoux, Karel Paukert, Peter Planyavsky, Simon Preston, Daniel Roth, Erik Wm. Suter, Thomas Trotter, and Dame Gillian Weir. Organ students are also assessed on conducting and vocal skills and may be required to take classes for further development in these areas.
Students have the opportunity for practice and performance on an extensive collection of fine instruments at the university: the H. Frank Bozyan Memorial Organ in Dwight Memorial Chapel (von Beckerath, three manuals, 1971); the organ in Battell Chapel (Walter Holtkamp, Sr., three manuals, 1951); the organs in Marquand Chapel at the Divinity School (E.M. Skinner, three manuals, 1932; Krigbaum Organ, Taylor & Boody, three manuals, meantone temperament, 2007); and the Newberry Memorial Organ in Woolsey Hall (E.M. Skinner, four manuals, 1928), one of the most renowned Romantic organs in the world. The organ studio at the Institute of Sacred Music houses a two-manual organ by Martin Pasi (2011). Two-manual practice instruments by Flentrop, Holtkamp, Casavant, and other builders are located both in Woolsey Hall and at the Institute, which also has five Steinway grand pianos, a C.B. Fisk positive, a Dowd harpsichord, and a two-manual Richard Kingston harpsichord.
The Institute of Sacred Music sponsors biennial international study trips for all its students. The institute also offers an employment placement service for organ students at Yale.
Voice
Students majoring in vocal performance at Yale are enrolled in one of two separate and distinct tracks: the opera track and the early music track. The early music, oratorio, and chamber ensemble track is sponsored jointly by the School of Music and the Institute of Sacred Music. Both tracks are designed to enhance and nurture the artistry of singers by developing in them a secure technique, consummate musicianship, stylistic versatility, performance skills, and comprehensive performance experience. In both tracks there is a strong emphasis on oratorio and the art song repertoire, and each student is expected to sing a recital each year.
The Yale community and the New Haven area offer ample opportunities for solo experience with various Yale choral and orchestral ensembles, as well as through church positions and professional orchestras. Close proximity to New York and Boston makes attendance at performances and auditions in those cities convenient. Additionally, students have the opportunity to teach voice to undergraduates in Yale College and to nonmajors in the Yale School of Music.
Opera
Gerald Martin Moore (area coordinator), J.J. Penna, Alejandro Roca, John de los Santos, Anna Smigelskaya, and Adriana Zabala
Singers in Yale Opera receive rigorous training in the art of opera performance in preparation for careers in the field. The program encompasses thorough musical training including vocal technique, languages, style, acting, and general stage skills. Full productions with orchestra, as well as chamber operas and opera scenes performances, are presented throughout the year to give students varied performance experience. Recent productions with orchestra have included Iolanta, The Rake’s Progress, Florencia en el Amazonas, Eugene Onegin, The Magic Flute, and A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Recent productions performed with chamber ensemble or piano include The Seven Deadly Sins, Gianni Schicchi, Le comte Ory, The Rape of Lucretia, The Elixir of Love, and Alcina. Repertoire is chosen to highlight the students’ individual voices and maximize performance opportunities.
In addition to private voice lessons, singers receive intensive coaching in both operatic and song literature. Weekly seminars and voice classes address style, diction, interpretation, and current topics in the field. Eminent artists are brought for residencies and master classes, including Enrique Mazzola, Carrie-Ann Matheson, Lawrence Brownlee, Dame Sarah Connolly, Matthew Polenzani, Erin Morley, and Renée Fleming. Each year, Yale Opera singers audition for artist managers and arts administrators, generating contacts, feedback, and exposure for the students vis-à-vis industry professionals from such companies as the Metropolitan Opera, IMG Artists, Zurich Opera, Dutch National Opera, and Washington National Opera.
Early Music, Oratorio, and Chamber Ensemble
James Taylor
This vocal track is designed for the singer whose interests lie principally in the fields of early music, oratorio, art song, contemporary music, and choral chamber ensembles. Private voice lessons are supplemented by intensive coaching in art song and oratorio literature and by concentrated study of ensemble techniques in the chamber ensemble, Yale Schola Cantorum. Schola performs major works featuring these voice students in the various solo roles, and Schola’s touring and recording schedules provide invaluable professional experiences. Weekly seminars and voice classes provide in-depth instruction in performance practices, diction, and interpretation, and singers have the opportunity to participate in master classes by such internationally renowned artists as Russell Braun, Christian Gerhaher, Emma Kirkby, Donald Sulzen, and Lawrence Zazzo. Classes in diction, movement, and vocal repertoire are shared with students on the opera track. Students are encouraged to avail themselves of the offerings of the university, particularly courses in the Department of Music. All students enrolled in the Early Music, Oratorio, and Chamber Ensemble voice track also participate in ISM’s Colloquium and choose two electives from the academic courses offered by the institute faculty.
Orchestral Conducting
Elizabeth Askren, Peter Oundjian, and guests
The orchestral conducting program offers intensive training to highly gifted students with significant prior conducting experience. The two-year curriculum is typically open to only one student in each graduating class. Students train in weekly lessons and seminars with the principal conductor of the Yale Philharmonia, along with faculty colleagues and distinguished guest mentors, and frequently conduct the Yale Philharmonia and other graduate ensembles in rehearsal and performance.
First-year students rehearse major repertoire with the Yale Philharmonia, including at least one movement in Woolsey Hall (Yale’s flagship performance space); conduct a laboratory orchestra several times per year; and conduct premieres in Woolsey Hall of at least three works by Yale composers. Second-year students do the same. They also conduct a full Woolsey Hall concert with the Yale Philharmonia, along with at least one work on another concert. All performances and rehearsals include high-quality video and audio recordings for both first- and second-year students.
Complementing the program’s emphasis on orchestral repertoire, students develop their technique and general musicianship through coursework on score-reading, analysis, and other topics tailored to their needs and interests. Students are strongly encouraged to take advantage of the diverse course offerings of the School of Music, the Department of Music, and other units of the university.
Choral Conducting
Felicia Barber, Jeffrey Douma, Stefan Parkman, and Grete Pedersen
The program prepares students for careers as professional conductors in a variety of contexts, including educational, civic, and church. A primary emphasis of the master’s degree is laying the foundation for continued work in a doctoral program. Students are expected to expand their musicianship skills and develop the broad knowledge of repertoire required of conductors.
The program for choral conductors includes individual lessons with the choral conducting faculty and lessons during regularly supervised sessions with the Repertory and Recital choruses. Attendance at a weekly seminar, Repertory Chorus, and Recital Chorus rehearsals is required each term, as is participation in other curricular ensembles. First-year students conduct Repertory Chorus in two shared performances. Second- and third-year students present a degree recital with the Recital Chorus. Choral conducting students are required to study voice as a secondary instrument for two terms and are encouraged to pursue other secondary instrumental studies. Students who are enrolled in the School of Music and the Institute of Sacred Music will have additional requirements as specified by the Institute. All students are expected to avail themselves of the offerings of the university, particularly courses in the Department of Music.
Choral conductors are advised to observe rehearsals of each of the various vocal and instrumental ensembles. Further conducting experience is gained by serving as assistant conductor for one of the faculty-led choirs. Visiting guest conductors have included Simon Carrington, Harold Decker, George Guest, Simon Halsey, David Hill, Paul Hillier, Stephen Layton, Sir Neville Marriner, Nicholas McGegan, Erwin Ortner, Stefan Parkman, Krzysztof Penderecki, Helmuth Rilling, Robert Shaw, Dale Warland, and Sir David Willcocks.
Composition
Katherine Balch, Martin Bresnick, Aaron Jay Kernis, David Lang, and Christopher Theofanidis (area coordinator)
The program focuses on intensive studies in composition and values the students’ vital engagement in dialogue and discussion of compositional practice and craft, interaction with musicians and peers, and navigation of the greater field of music. The ratio of faculty to students is excellent, with five faculty members for twelve students, and the faculty mentor the students musically and professionally.
Students’ works are performed on the New Music New Haven concerts which occur six times per year, and their ensembles, rehearsal schedules, and conductors are all coordinated for them. High-quality video and audio recordings of their pieces are also provided to them after each concert.
Through the composition seminar, visiting guest composers, a variety of high-level analysis classes, and opportunities for interdisciplinary work and collaboration and the many resources at Yale, we expect our students to leave prepared and ready to engage with the real world as artists of the highest level.
Academic Studies
Paul Berry, Lynette Bowring (coordinator), Robert Holzer, Markus Rathey, music history; Seth Monahan, Stephanie Venturino, analysis and musicianship; colleagues and guests
The Academic Studies Area brings together classroom teachers in the disciplines of music history, analysis, and musicianship. Faculty expertise and course offerings span the full range of Western music, from the Middle Ages to the present and from classical to popular styles. Surveys of the major historical periods and the fundamentals of analysis and musicianship in notated and non-notated musics complement topic- and repertoire-based seminars. The signal strength of the area is its commitment to the education of aspiring professional musicians: the teaching in this area centers on the ways in which academic engagement with musical style and structure enhances the music-making of performers, conductors, and composers.
Additional Instructional Resources
Center for Studies in Music Technology
The Center for Studies in Music Technology (CSMT) offers support in all aspects of computer applications in music composition, performance, and research. CSMT currently has facilities for sound synthesis and analysis, digital recording and processing, and multimedia performance. Aside from composition projects, CSMT supports research in interactive performance systems and surround sound audio.
Music in Schools Initiative
Albert Lee, Sebastian Ruth, Rubén Rodríguez
At its core, the Music in Schools Initiative is a partnership with the New Haven Public Schools through which students from the School of Music support and enhance the work of certified music educators.
The initiative, established through a gift from the Yale College Class of 1957, collaborates with the New Haven Public Schools to provide paraprofessional support in music classrooms, All-City Ensemble opportunities, and the annual Morse Summer Music Academy. Each program fosters relationships between instructors and students while facilitating students’ musical development through active music-making, performing, and responding to music. These programs cultivate a dynamic community among New Haven students, music educators, and Yale School of Music students, who provide paraprofessional support as teaching artists.
The initiative also includes a biennial Symposium on Music in Schools, which fosters dialogue on contemporary topics in music education, and a visiting professor whose curricular focus furthers the program’s aims and ideals.