Department of Voice
Voice at Michigan provides students with the opportunity and guidance to discover, explore, and develop their passions at a school with a famed tradition of producing world-class performers. The Department of Voice offers the intensity and rigor of a conservatory education at one of the nation’s top public universities, providing an unequaled opportunity for talented and inquisitive singers to receive a full-faceted education. The program’s intimate nature offers extraordinary access and support, students receive a foundation of individual training with distinguished resident faculty, and have the opportunity to work with many faculty members in addition to their studio teacher. Deeply committed to social justice and attracting, recruiting, and retaining students with wide-ranging backgrounds and identities, the department is championing diversification of repertoire and performance techniques, approaches to pedagogy, and amplifying traditionally under-represented voices. Programs are designed to offer the flexibility to explore a wide range of musical traditions, ample performance opportunities, and a curriculum designed for the 21st Century marketplace. SMTD is home to thriving communities in opera, new music, performance art technology, sacred music, chamber music, and more, offering tremendous opportunities for collaboration and exploration.
The Department of Voice recognizes that as voice teachers, coaches, conductors, and stage directors, the faculty and visiting guest artists set an example for our students of professional and ethical conduct. Accordingly, the Department offers this code of ethics, reflecting the collective perspective of the faculty.
Faculty
The Department of Voice boasts a seasoned and outstanding faculty, with a wealth of performance, teaching, and research experience. At Michigan, private study goes beyond a weekly appointment. Professors are accessible and involved mentors, deeply committed to their students’ growth as individuals as well as musicians. The faculty’s range of experience creates an incomparable in-house resource, while their commitment to teaching provides students with the foundation and real-world guidance needed to flourish in today’s musical landscape.
Kathleen Belcher
Timothy Cheek
Abbigail Coté
Thomas Hampson
Amanda Handley Majeski
Freda Herseth
Stephen Lusmann
Caitlin Lynch
Rose Mannino
Stanford Olsen
Scott Piper
Kirk Severtson
George I. Shirley
Matthew Thompson
Louise Toppin
Daniel Washington
Stephen West
Mo Zhou
Degrees
Undergraduate
Bachelor of Music
Bachelor of Musical Arts
Graduate
Master of Music
Specialist in Music
Doctor of Musical Arts
Our Stories
Performance Opportunities
From large ensembles in celebrated concert halls to chamber groups in intimate recital spaces, performance opportunities across all disciplines abound, with nearly 900 student performances each academic year. Whether your focus is on early, classical, or contemporary music, whether your passion is for jazz, electronic, or world music, there is an ensemble—or in many cases, multiple ensembles—to suit your interests, including specific opportunities for percussion, piano, and organ & carillon. For students in theatre & drama, musical theatre, dance, and opera, opportunities abound in both professionally produced and student-run presentations.
Choirs
Students can explore opportunities across a wide array of SMTD and U-M choirs that perform a range of choral works in world-class venues in Ann Arbor and beyond.
Opera
Both undergraduate and graduate students have opportunities to perform in fully produced operas and opera workshops as part of this renowned program.
Early Music Ensembles
Students interested in historically oriented performance have opportunities to explore music from across the centuries, performed on authentic period instruments and high-quality replicas.
Solo & Studio Recitals
Across all disciplines, students perform and study with their peers in studio classes and perform for the public in solo student recitals and studio recitals
About George I. Shirley, Joseph Edgar Maddy Distinguished University Emeritus Professor of Voice
- Access Shirley’s creative:impact radio interview
- The George Shirley Vocal Competition is held annually
- The George Shirley Voice Scholarship Fund endowment provides need-based scholarship support for undergraduate voice majors.
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Most applications for 2022-2023 are due by December 1 – check for exact dates on the appropriate admissions page below.
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