Academy of Vocal Arts
Encyclopedia
The Academy of Vocal Arts is a school dedicated to providing free higher education to aspiring opera
singers. The school was founded in 1934 by Helen Corning Warden and is located at 1920 Spruce Street in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
, few people could afford any kind of higher education, especially the long and costly training needed for a career in opera. Recognizing this difficulty, Helen Corning Warden, a prominent member of Philadelphia society, set out to establish a school where talented singers could receive highest quality training without having to suffer the financial burdens that such an education would normally entail. Encouraged by voice teacher Edgar Milton Cooke, Mrs. Warden and a group of her friends set out to establish a school for professional singers that would provide tuition-free education.
For more than six decades, gifted singers have come from throughout the world to seek the exceptional guidance and training that the Academy of Vocal Arts offers. Many current and former teachers, such as Dodi Protero
and Nell Rankin
, have had highly successful opera careers. Notable alumni of the school include: Burak Bilgili
, Stephen Costello
, Joyce DiDonato
, Othalie Graham
, Bryan Hymel
, Eglise Gutiérrez
, Gioacchino Livigni
, Seymour Schwartzman
, Gregory Stapp
, Ruth Ann Swenson
, Richard Troxell
, and Beverly Wolff
among others. Admission into AVA's four-year program is highly competitive, with approximately 30 singers enrolled in any given year. Today, AVA is the only tuition-free institution dedicated exclusively to the study of voice.
Helen Corning Warden served as the Academy's chairperson until her death. She was succeeded by her daughter, Adele Warden Paxson
, who was followed by her daughter, Sally Paxson Davis. http://www.avaopera.org/about/
Opera
Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
singers. The school was founded in 1934 by Helen Corning Warden and is located at 1920 Spruce Street in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
History
During the Great DepressionGreat Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
, few people could afford any kind of higher education, especially the long and costly training needed for a career in opera. Recognizing this difficulty, Helen Corning Warden, a prominent member of Philadelphia society, set out to establish a school where talented singers could receive highest quality training without having to suffer the financial burdens that such an education would normally entail. Encouraged by voice teacher Edgar Milton Cooke, Mrs. Warden and a group of her friends set out to establish a school for professional singers that would provide tuition-free education.
For more than six decades, gifted singers have come from throughout the world to seek the exceptional guidance and training that the Academy of Vocal Arts offers. Many current and former teachers, such as Dodi Protero
Dodi Protero
Dodi Protero was a Canadian operatic soprano who had a prolific international career from 1955 through 1980. A singer with a great deal of technical finess, she excelled in the coloratura soprano and soubrette repertoires...
and Nell Rankin
Nell Rankin
Nell Rankin was an American operatic mezzo-soprano. Although a successful opera singer internationally, she spent most of her career at the Metropolitan Opera where she worked from 1951-1976. Rankin was particularly admired for her portrayals of Amneris in Verdi's Aida and the title role in...
, have had highly successful opera careers. Notable alumni of the school include: Burak Bilgili
Burak Bilgili
Burak Bilgili is a Turkish operatic bass-baritone who was born in Akşehir, a town in the Konya Province of Turkey. He has sung in leading opera houses in the United States and Europe....
, Stephen Costello
Stephen Costello
Stephen Costello is an American operatic tenor and a recipient of the 2009 Richard Tucker Award. Costello has performed in noted opera houses around the world including Covent Garden, Metropolitan Opera, and Lyric Opera of Chicago...
, Joyce DiDonato
Joyce DiDonato
Joyce DiDonato is an award-winning American operatic mezzo-soprano particularly admired for her interpretations of the works of Handel, Mozart, and Rossini...
, Othalie Graham
Othalie Graham
Othalie Graham is a Canadian dramatic soprano, whose operatic roles to date include the title roles of Puccini's Turandot, Verdi's Aida, Strauss' Elektra and Leonora in Verdi's Il trovatore as well as a role in Tosca and the role of Odabella in Attila...
, Bryan Hymel
Bryan Hymel
Bryan Hymel is an American operatic tenor who was born and raised in New Orleans.-Early years:Bryan Hymel came to the attention of opera houses at the age of 19, when he was a winner in the Verdi Aria Competition at the Aspen Music Festival in Aspen, Colorado...
, Eglise Gutiérrez
Eglise Gutiérrez
Eglise Gutiérrez is a Cuban-American coloratura soprano. She studied voice in Cuba, in Miami with Manny Perez, and at the Academy of Vocal Arts in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania from which she graduated in 2004. She presently works with the voice teacher, William Schumann.In 2004 she won the Mirjam...
, Gioacchino Livigni
Gioacchino Livigni
Gioacchino Lauro Li Vigni is a tenor opera singer who performs internationally. He was born in Brooklyn, New York and raised in Palermo Italy...
, Seymour Schwartzman
Seymour Schwartzman
Seymour Schwartzman was an American cantor and opera singer. He was a principal baritone at New York City Opera where he sang over thirty roles and also performed internationally in opera houses and on the concert stage...
, Gregory Stapp
Gregory Stapp
Gregory Stapp is an American bass who has performed actively in concerts and operas internationally for more than 35 years. He has had a particularly fruitful partnership with the San Francisco Opera, portraying more than 30 roles with the company since 1980. He has also worked actively as a...
, Ruth Ann Swenson
Ruth Ann Swenson
Ruth Ann Swenson is an American soprano who is renowned for her brilliance in coloratura roles.Born in Bronxville, New York and raised in Commack, New York on Long Island, Swenson studied at the Academy of Vocal Arts in Philadelphia and briefly at Hartt College of Music in West Hartford, Connecticut...
, Richard Troxell
Richard Troxell
Richard Troxell is a United States operatic tenor who hails from Thurmont, Maryland. As a Academy of Vocal Arts graduate, he made his soloist début in 2003, performing Bach's Magnificat in Carnegie Hall...
, and Beverly Wolff
Beverly Wolff
Beverly Wolff was an American mezzo-soprano who had an active career in concerts and operas from the early 1950s to the early 1980s. She performed a broad repertoire which encompassed operatic and concert works in many languages and from a variety of musical periods...
among others. Admission into AVA's four-year program is highly competitive, with approximately 30 singers enrolled in any given year. Today, AVA is the only tuition-free institution dedicated exclusively to the study of voice.
Helen Corning Warden served as the Academy's chairperson until her death. She was succeeded by her daughter, Adele Warden Paxson
Adele W. Paxson
Adele Warden Paxson was an American socialite, philanthropist, conservationist, and a Champion breeder of Thoroughbred racehorses....
, who was followed by her daughter, Sally Paxson Davis. http://www.avaopera.org/about/