Page 74 - 2020 Classical Singer Magazine January Summer Program Issue

BUTI: Training the Next Generation
Jones with Ava Brown and Caroline Lukens after their choral performance.
Preparation for the Future
The BUTI vocal program is designed to give students interested in pursuing music professionally a taste of the
intensity and rigor of a conservatory and the joys and hard work of the life of a professional musician. Students learn to manage their vocal health during six weeks of frequent singing and are encouraged, but not required, to take various health and wellness classes such as yoga and Alexander Technique. They learn to make the most of musical enrichment: masterclasses, concerts, recitals, and collaborations. They begin to take ownership of their own learning in an age-appropriate setting.
Jones credits BUTI with helping him succeed at Oberlin. “BUTI has truly helped me in a lot of ways,”
he says. “BUTI has helped me understand what college
is like but just within a span of six weeks. I would have never been prepared for college if it wasn’t for the amazing faculty that has helped me along the way to learn and grow as a performer. I have a better sense of what it takes to be a responsible, independent college student because of the way BUTI runs their program. Also, having a loving, caring environment really helps as well.”
Approximately 70 students participate in the vocal program and live with other BUTI students in single-sex, dormitory-style housing on the campus of Tanglewood. They eat in the Tanglewood cafeteria and have access to extracurricular events as varied as hiking trips up Mount Greylock and the BUTI prom.
Students’ social growth happens in tandem with their musical growth. When asked to describe her hopes for how BUTI will bene t young singers, Bitzas states, “I have several hopes for what the program can do for these young singers. I hope the summer increases their overall musical skills, both academic and vocal.
“One of the things that the program does is that it lets them become aware that there are other people their age who love classical music and want to actively be engaged
Announcing the inaugural Early Music Summer Institute at Oklahoma City University
Anastasia Abu Bakar and Benjamin Shute, co-directors
MAY 31 - JUNE 13, 2020
NOW ACCEPTING APPLICATIONS
Activities include historical technique class, vocal chamber music, and a semi-staged production of John Blow's Venus and Adonis with baroque gesture.
For more information, visit okcu.edu/earlymusic
Marianne Barrett • Edith Bers Margo Garrett • Brian Zeger Corradina Caporello
Dr. Robert C White, Jr Cristina Stanescu
Kathryn LaBouff
Classical Singing &
New York in June
Jane Olian and Donna Gill co-directors
M
a
r
l
e
n
a Lydia Brown
s
a
M
s William Burden
M
a
r
l
e
n
M
a
a
l
l
a
a
Each year in June, a small group of talented young classical singers and collaborative pianists gather in New York for 18 days of intensive study and coaching, along with cultural immersion in one of the world’s great cities.
Join us May 25 - June 11, 2020
www.classicalsingingny.org
74 Classical Singer / Jan/Feb 2020