Opera Studio
About Iowa State University Opera Studio
Students can gain valuable experience in the field by participating in ISU Opera Studio. Iowa State University’s intensive, student-centered opera program allows students to interact with faculty who are still active in the field and prepare for careers in performance and education. Our close proximity to Des Moines Metro Opera (DMMO) and Cedar Rapids Opera (CRO) allows students the opportunity to further their experience in the field and interact with professional artists in performance. The Opera Studio has also provided students with several opportunities to participate in Master Classes with world-renowned singers and educators such as Molly Fillmore, Morris Robinson, Martin Katz, and Sherrill Milnes.
2023-2024 Projects
Midsummer Masque
What fools these mortals be! William Shakespeare encounters his own fairy creations and lives to tell the tale in this fantastical, high-energy mashup of Henry Purcell’s The Fairy Queen and Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
Thursday, November 9 & Friday, November 10 at 7:30 p.m.
Martha-Ellen Tye Recital Hall
Admission is $5/free to ISU students
The Miller's Daughter
Join ISU Opera Studio and guest artists for an extraordinary collaboration with the Iowa Arts Council and the National Endowment for the Arts, as we present the world premiere of The Miller’s Daughter: A New World Schubertiade. This unique adaptation brings together librettist Victoria Erickson’s creative concept with Jodi Goble’s newly-composed music to bring operatic life to Franz Schubert’s iconic song cycle Die schöne Müllerin, just in time for its 200th anniversary.
Thursday, April 25, 2024 at 7:30 p.m.
Martha-Ellen Tye Recital Hall
Admission is $5/free to ISU students
Program Projects
Our program is structured around the following projects:
Fall Semester
An auditioned course in which students present either an opera scenes program or one-act chamber opera(s). May include a community outreach tour.
Spring Semester
A process-based course in which singers can learn the "skills of the trade" from professors who are currently working in the field. Topics include:
- History
- Stage Deportment
- Acting
- Small Scene/Aria Preparation
- Crossover Repertoire
- Recitative
- Audition Preparation
Alternate Years
A fully staged opera with an orchestra. Past productions include:
- Street Scene by Kurt Weill
- Dido and Aeneas by Henry Purcell
- Cendrillon (Cinderella) by Pauline Viardot
- Hansel and Gretel by Engelbert Humperdinck
- Orpheus in the Underworld by Jacques Offenbach