Vocal Studies

Studying Singing at Drew

At Drew, one can study voice both at the private and class level

The Doorway to Singing with Us — the Unified Voice Auditions

Because we want you to get the most out of your singing experience at Drew, we have every singer participate in a voice evaluation, the purpose of which is to get to know you and ascertain how we can best serve you during your Drew experience. At the beginning of each academic year, we hold an organizational meeting in our Concert Hall in which you:

• Give us your background and areas of interest on an application for
• Give us a sense of your technical facility in a short, written quiz
• Give us a sense of your current vocal facility in a private evaluation by the voice faculty and leadership of the student ensembles.
• These insights help us place you in one of our singing ensembles or voice studio

For Credit or Not for Credit? – that is the question

All of vocal activities within the Drew Music Department can be taken for credit or enjoyed just for your own pleasure. Whether you sing in an ensemble or take private lessons for credit or no credit, the standards under which you are taught are the same.

I mostly enjoy singing pop, jazz, or American Musical Theater — do you teach those in the voice studios?

The healthy basics of vocal production are the same for virtually every style. Once you have that basic technique, we then help you style it toward your individual needs.

How many languages will you have to know?

It is fun to know how to sing languages properly (including English) and it is not uncommon to hear our singers singing 4 or even 5 languages in one concert – and singing them well!

– REMEMBER –
AS A MEMBER OF ONE OF OUR VOCAL ENSEMBLES OR AS A PRIVATE VOICE STUDENT, YOU GET TO PERFORM IN OUR
WORLD-CLASS CONCERT HALL!

Solo Performance Opportunities?

For those vocalists who wish to solo, we have many possiblities: - as soloist with Drew Chorale and Drew Madrigal Singers – participation in a Department’s Works-in-Progress performances, held four or five times a semester on Fridays at noon in our state-of-the-art Concert Hall
- in a Junior or Senior recital, alone or co-performed with 1 or 2 other singers
- as soloist with the Jazz Ensemble
- as a member of the cast of the Theatre Department production of a musical

Techniques of the Voice class

Every two years, the class Techniques of the Voice (MUS 30) is offered by Prof. Nair. This one semester course covers how the voice works, vocal basics and performing basics. During each class, the participants sing for each other and all meld together in a close-knit support group to help each individual improve.

Techniques of the Voice is an ideal adjunct to private study because it ties information about anatomy, physiology, the physics of sound and the basic principles of excellent vocal production into a carefully constructed structure that reinforces and amplifies what one learns in the private voice studio. It is taught by Prof. Garyth Nair, an internationally recognized authority on vocal technique and the author of two influential books, Voice – Tradition and Technology and The Craft of Singing.

Voice Contacts