SONGFIRE Theatre Apprenticeship
June 2-24
Singers and Pianists, Actors, Directors, Creative Writers are invited to inquire
Experience the world’s first Art Song Theatre Apprenticeship program, as Art Song departs from the recital stage and claims the theatre for its own. Participate in creating new works of Art Song Theatre, trained and directed by distinguished actors and theatre and opera directors.
SONGFIRE is a program for Singers and Pianists with advanced training in Opera or Collaborative Piano. A maximum of 12 singers and 4 pianists will be accepted to this 3-week program leading to a full production.
Prof. Gayle Shay, Director of Opera at Vanderbilt University and Prof. Tom Scholte of UBC Department of Theatre and Film will direct productions with musical direction by Prof. Rena Sharon, and masterclasses and coachings by Profs. Benjamin Butterfield, François Le Roux, Laura Loewen, Mira Zakai, and others..
SONGFIRE Theatre breaks new ground in the presentation of Art Song, bringing the highest creative standards to a new canon of multi-media works.
THE SONGFIRE PROGRAM:
The program includes intensive musical and theatrical coaching with VISI faculty singers, pianists, drama coaches, and directors, culminating in a production of staged scripted and non-scripted works on June 23-24.
Apprentices will propose songs before arriving at VISI which will provide the source material for the collaborative creation of a several Art Song Theatre pieces featuring the entire Apprentice Ensemble.
 "That Way Goes the Game" Settings of Shakespeare Script by Brenda Sparks Direction by Gayle Shay |
Morning lectures/classes with the whole VISI community, or theatre workshop
Musical coaching with voice and piano faculty artists
Dramatic Recitation work with theatre faculty artists
Stage Diction
Movement
Rehearsals
Masterclasses
(PLEASE NOTE: SONGFIRE students will NOT coach with Sir Thomas Allen or Prof. Garrett, but will have access to audit their masterclasses) .
Song Theatre Arts Intensive with David Walsh June 4 – 9
This six-day intensive offers participants the opportunity to explore the art of song from the ground up -
through poetry reading, gesture and improvisation techniques. In a spirit of adventure which is at once respectful of aesthetic traditions and yet open to dynamic new approaches to the genre, participants will collaborate with Opera Director David Walsh to create a 50-minute Art Song Intermedio developed around a specific theme. Repertoire appropriate to the theme will be chosen and assigned in advance. During the intensive, participants each will receive musical coachings on their (2-3) individual selections.
Unleash the art song and your individual creative imagination!
The course will include access to daily VISI lectures, music coachings with diverse faculty, and 4-6 hours per day of staging work with Prof. Walsh. For more information please inquire directly at info@songinstitute.ca.
Actors, Writers, and Directors:
Inquire about Mentorship options to create their own works of improvised, non-scripted, or scripted staged monologues for in-house performance to the VISI community of students and faculty artists during the VISI session, with mentorship from the SONGFIRE faculty.
Throughout the creation process, Apprentices will receive intensive instruction in the application of the Stanislavski System of Acting to Art Song, principles of theatrical movement founded in the teachings of French master, Jacques Lecoq, and the Viewpoints and Composition performance creation techniques developed by celebrated contemporary American director, Anne Bogart, of New York’s acclaimed SITI Company.
The SONGFIRE production works will be drawn from the songs to create a through-line of intense story-telling. Scripts are written by Tom Scholte and Brenda Sparks and will be coached by VISI music and drama faculty in preparation for performance.
If you would like to create an experimental work that requires advanced score study for a small group of participants, please write to us with your proposal and repertoire list and we will link you to colleagues who may wish to collaborate.
Please contact us with any specific program inquiries at info@songinstitute.ca
Scroll below for Application information
A brief history and description of the SONGFIRE Theatre
"If Art Song is to have a future, this is surely the way to do it. Tonight's performance opened the doors of comprehension. What a revelation!" - Winnipeg Virtuosi Series, 2005.
 ""Songs from Spoon River" Poetry by Edgar Lee Masters Music by Lita Grier and Andrew Downes Direction by Tom Scholte (Photo courtesy Lilian Sepulveda) |
Art Song Theatre is a form initially developed in the early 1990's by VISI's Artistic Director, UBC Professor of Collaborative Piano Studies Rena Sharon, in response to feedback from audiences regarding the challenges in the Art Song recital. Cognition and comprehension of texts in sung modality are steeply enhanced when natural gesture and story-telling are introduced to amplify and contextualize the poetic content. While the recital stage remains a source of intense and intimate aesthetic communication, the introduction of theatre and other elements extends the breadth of the 21st Century Art Song audience to maximal inclusivity, opening an immense array of potential community environments in which the repertoire can find new venue, relevance, and engagement..
In 1996 Sharon created a performance ensemble, The Song Circle, which produced Art Song Theatre works for renowned artists in collaboration with young artists until 2005. Venues have included the Vancouver International Writers Festival, Festival Vancouver, CBC, Winnipeg Virtuosi Series, Seattle Chamber Festival, with such artists as Wendy Neilsen, Susan Platts, Michael Colvin, Jean Stilwell, Alain Coulombe, the late Denis Simpson, writers Bill Richardson, Kico Gonzales-Risso, David Maggs, Dr. Leonard George, Dr. David Gordon Duke.
Graduates of UBC's original ensemble have gone on to create new ensembles and productions, including VISI faculty Phoebe MacRae, Alan Corbishley, Tyler Duncan, Erika Switzer, Robyn Driedger-Klassen, and Lynne McMurtry. They are joined by Alison d'Amato, Martha Guth, Laura Loewen, Gayle Shay, Ben Butterfield, and Julie Simson . Please see their VISI bios for more detailed information. Recent UBC/VISI alumni Adrienne Paulson, Michael Broder, and Damien Jinks have also created a production ensemble, Song Drama Productions.
VISI was established in 2007 as a creative nexus for the exploration of new approaches to interpretation studies and presentation of Art Song in diverse media applications. To disseminate this philosophy and approach and accelerate the shift toward multi-media Art Song creations internationally, VISI created the experimental Theatre of Art Song pilot program in 2009 with Professors Gayle Shay (Opera, Vanderbilt University) and David Walsh (Opera, University of Minnesota), as a general introduction and exploration of staging, dramatic recitation, and creative performance formats. Theatre directors John Wright and Dean Paul Gibson were part of the 2007 of the VISI team and have participated in subsequent sessions. In 2010 VISI invited the UBC Department of Theatre and Film into a collaboration, and Professors Tom Scholte (acting, directing) and Robert Gardiner (scenography), joined the roster.VISI has produced mounted Art Song Theatre works each year since 2007.
These collaborative partnerships and works have led us to the creation of SONGFIRE Theatre Apprenticeship, a program of studies and production for singers, pianists, actors, and writers interested in exploring the potential of this powerful emerging art form.
2011 also saw the launch of our professional touring company, SONGFIRE Theatre. Our 2011 Festival of Song included a scripted staging of Libby Larsen's "Try Me Good King" and staging of "Songs from Spoon River", poetry by Edgar Lee Masters, to settings by Lita Grier and Andrew Downes in productions written and directed by Tom Scholte; "That Way Goes The Game", settings of Shakespeare by diverse composers was scripted by Brenda Sparks and directed by Gayle Shay; "Shakespeare's KIngdom", a medley of Shakespeare settings staged by Alan Corbishley. Please see our 2011 SONGFIRE Festival of Song brochure for further details.
Application Criteria and Deadline:
First: Submit your online application and pay the $50 application fee.
Next: Compile and submit the required support materials to info@songinstitute.ca. Additional materials may be requested.
The deadline for Registration for this program is February 29th, 2012. You are welcome to inquire about limited late acceptance and waiting list options.
Required Application Support Materials for Singers and Pianists
1. A résumé of your training and performance experience.
2. A signed PDF letter of recommendation from your most recent teacher
3. A digital photo (jpg format)
4. A recording or video (video is preferred) of two contrasting songs in any language. Arias are not accepted. Pianists should also include a solo piano work of their own choice. Recordings should be sent as mp3s, YouTube links, or other electronic format.
5. A comprehensive list of song repertoire you have performed
6. A list of 5 songs you would like to study and perform at VISI. (Please note that songs that performed at VISI need to be memorized).
For Actors, Writers, and Directors
1. A resume of your training and theatre experience
2. A sample of your written work, or video of theatre production. Video should be sent in online or other electronic viewing format.
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