OPERA STUDIO TEATRU ASTRA LAUNCHED YESTERDAY
The Opera Studio Teatru Astra (OSTA), launched yesterday, is the first professional opera studio to be opened in Malta. It will be providing a unique opportunity for 20 to 35 year olds (certain conditions apply) wishing to pursue a career in opera singing, with a specialised tailor-made course being offered locally. The course will open up doors of opportunity to a potential career on an international scale. Aspiring opera singers have never been so close to an international career!
Students wishing to participate in this one-year intensive course should apply with the Teatru Astra at the very earliest, with auditions to be held immediately after. A limited number of students with the best voices will be selected to proceed with the course, which will be providing individual tuition at a high level designed to add vocal, performing and interpretative skills to refine the students’ talents.
The course, which will be held at the Teatru Astra in Victoria, Gozo, will be focusing on:
1. Learning a number of opera roles annually, and additional supporting roles.
2. Vocal technique and ability to meet the demands of operatic repertoire and work in an operatic context.
3. Interpretation and Style in different music types and periods.
4. The comprehension and projection of text in opera.
5. The ability to work as part of an ensemble.
2. Vocal technique and ability to meet the demands of operatic repertoire and work in an operatic context.
3. Interpretation and Style in different music types and periods.
4. The comprehension and projection of text in opera.
5. The ability to work as part of an ensemble.
The course aims to produce skilled all-round performers who can audition with agents and earn a place with an operatic company. In addition students will work individually with their Head of Studies, attend master classes held with an external teacher, and learn aspects of stagecraft that are incorporated into opera scenes and productions. OSTA students will benefit from being able to audition directly for opera roles within the Teatru Astra’s opera productions, while close links will be maintained with agents on an international scale.
OSTA will be directed by the Swedish-Indian vocal coach and accompanist Anouchka Mukherjee, and is a joint collaboration between the Opera Studio Sweden and Teatru Astra. The theatre in Victoria Gozo enjoys a high reputation for the staging of its annual opera production, and with this initiative is going one step further into contributing for an even more professional approach to opera.
The Swedish music management company Finn Persson Music Group (FPMG) is also collaborating in this project, and will manage concerts or recitals for OSTA students in preparation for an international career.
Miss Mukherjee is an accomplished soprano, pianist/accompanist and vocal coach having received her education in the US, Sweden and the UK. She has set up the Opera Studio Sweden following teaching experience at University of Missouri Kansas City (USA), the Nordiskt Musikkonservatorium (Stockholm, Sweden) and the Kommunala Musikskolan (Stockholm, Sweden). She won a number of vocal scholarships within the US and the UK.
For more information contact the OSTA on:
Email address: [email protected]
Telephone number: 21550985
