School of Opera

The School of Opera at the Mannheim University of Music and Performing Arts has set itself the aim of training its students through intensive personal coaching with as much first-hand experience as possible with opera singers. The restriction to a maximum of 20 students is one of several measures that serve to support this aim.

The prerequisite for studying at the School of Opera is a basic education in music and voice as well as an entrance examination in which the particular skills that are required in the profession of an opera singer are assessed.

In a preparatory course, which can be taken in parallel to music foundation studies, the principles of staging a production are studied.

The actual main course of studies generally lasts 6 semesters and consists of the following subjects:

Staging for drama class, Opera directing

Prof. Jutta Gleue

Assistant: Georgios Kapoglou

Musical production

Cosima Sophia Osthoff

Voice

Prof. Katharina Dau

Prof. Rudolf Piernay
Prof. Dr. Alejandro Ramirez

Prof. Vera U.G. Scherr

Prof. Anna- Maria Dur

Prof. Snezana Stamencovic

Part and ensemble studies

Barbara Baun

James Ponman

Fred Rensch

Repertoire coaching

Frank Kersting

Gary Kudo

Movement class, Physical training for singers

Andrea Haupt

Speaking, text interpretation

Sandra Schuschan

Physical movement training for dance

Regina Baumgart

Italian, opera texts

Dario Becci

Additionally, master classes will also be held with renowned voice instructors (R. Capecchi, D. Ferro, S. Leiferkus, W. Meier).

The School of Opera has a cooperation agreement with the Mannheim National Theatre. Advanced students can also study specialist parts with new productions. For outstanding performances, there is the possibility of continuing studies subsequent to taking the entrance examination again in the Soloist Training Subject Opera Singing course.

Young singers have the opportunity to perform in front of a wide ranging public in workshop style performances in the School of Opera's rooms and in regular opera performances with the University Orchestra or professional orchestras in cooperation with the Mannheim National Theatre, the Ludwigshafen Theater in Pfalzbau , the Baden- Baden Theater and Philharmonic Orchestra and the Schwetzingen Rokoko Theater.
The completion of the course of study culminates in an examination consisting of several parts.

Our approach and success is confirmed not least by the activities of our graduates in the following theatres:
Aachen, Augsburg, Berlin, Bonn, Coburg, Dresden, Flensburg, Frankfurt a. M., Hagen, Halle, Heidelberg, Hildesheim, Hof, Innsbruck, Kaiserslautern, Cologne, Linz, Lübeck, Mainz, Mannheim, Munich (State Opera House and Theater am Gärtnerplatz), Münster, Osnabrück, Schleswig, Stuttgart and Vienna.