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Vocal Performance Department (Undergraduate)

The Vocal Performance Department’s nurturing environment will encourage your development and the discovery of your musical voice. 

Overview

The Vocal Performance department’s internationally renowned programme provides students with the artistic and academic skills to forge a singing career at the highest level. Headed by Jane Irwin, the syllabus benefits from the Head of the Department’s area of expertise, creating a nurturing environment that allows every student to discover their musical voice. 

Our department is ambitious on your behalf and seeks to find ways for you to discover and fulfil your potential as a singer and independent, distinctive artist. The department numbers around 100 first-study singers on BMus and MMus courses, with more singers taking the advanced Opera route.

We work closely with the Head of Opera, Philip White, and have an excellent and committed team of tutors, many of whom have worked at the highest international performing levels and can offer a range of specialities.

A central ethos underlies the performing, teaching and coaching activities within vocal performance: each singer must find a mode of learning and developing that works for them. Our approach is student-centred — we aim to respond to the learning styles and needs of the individual.

These elements are taught via 40.5 hours of principal study tuition and supporting studies classes each academic year, with a special class called ‘Basis of Vocal Technique’ where students work as a group on practical solutions to scaffold any challenges they encounter in the one-to-one lessons.

The important details

UK Applicant Deadline:
2 October 2024

International Applicant Deadline:
1 December 2024

Institution Code:
R58

Programme Code:
Performance - 300F OR Joint Principal Study - 301F

Audition Fee:
£65

Application Fee:
£28.50


Why Study Vocal Performance With Us?

One-to-One Tuition


You will be encouraged to explore your imagination and hone your artistry during your lessons. The programme offers 40.5 hours of principal study tuition and supporting studies classes each academic year. Our unique classes designed for in-depth vocal technique learning will help you understand the mechanisms influencing your singing. 

Musicians practice for the Christmas Orechestra event in the Stevenson Hall.

Performance Opportunities


Throughout your studies, you will participate in diverse performance opportunities. The department will connect you with choral and ensemble activities such as RCS Choir and RCS Chamber Choir. 

Masterclasses & Partnerships


You will learn from industry professionals in regularly scheduled masterclasses. Our previous classes featured renowned artists like Sir Thomas Allen CBE, Catriona Morison, Malcolm Martineau and Karen Cargill. Additionally, you will benefit from networking with industry partners like the Scottish Opera, the Bayreuth Festival, the British Youth Opera, and the Samling Academy.

Meet the Staff

Teaching Staff

  • Singing Tutors

    Christina Dunwoodie

    Margaret Izatt

    Scott Johnson
    Wilma MacDougall
    Elizabeth McCormack
    Kathleen McKellar Ferguson
    Linda Ormiston OBE
    Iain Paton
    Professor Stephen Robertson
    Julian Tovey
    Lorna Anderson
    Mhairi Lawson
    Andrew McTaggart

    Jessica Leary

  • Repertoire Coaches

    Michael Bawtree
    Geoffrey Tanti
    Ingrid Sawers

    J. Javier Ucendo

    Marianna Abrahamyan

    Michał Gajzler

    Dylan Perez

  • Language Tutors

    Héloïse Bernard
    Geoffrey Tanti
    Dr Svetlana Zvereva
    Helen Lawson
  • International Fellow, Vocal Performance

    Dr Karen Cargill

Masterclasses

  • Dame Gwyneth Jones
  • Dame Felicity Lott
  • Karen Cargill
  • Catriona Morison
  • Nicky Spence
  • Patricia MacMahon
  • Sir Thomas Allen CBE
  • John Treleaven
  • Malcolm Martineau
  • Lisa Milne MBE
  • Rosalind Plowright
  • Barbara Bonney
  • Roderick Williams
  • Jane Eaglen
  • Christine Brewer
  • Dame Ann Murray
  • Simon Lepper

Facilities

In addition to the expected range of well-equipped teaching studios, singers have the benefit of the Alexander Gibson Opera School — including the Opera Studio. The professional venues, the Stevenson Hall, and the New Athenaeum Theatre are also used by the Vocal Performance students. 

The Ledger Recital Room is used for many classes and competitions. Other venues which have housed opera and concert performances outside the RCS campus include the splendid early Gothic Glasgow Cathedral, St Mary’s Cathedral, Paisley Abbey, and the concert halls in Perth and Aberdeen. 

Students also have access to expertise amongst staff in Spectrographic Analysis of resonance and vowels, with the ancillary information that can be utilised using Electroglottogram information. These two advanced software-based tools can often make yet clearer what is being studied and understood using excellent traditional methodologies. 

Graduate Destinations

Many undergraduates choose to go on to further study once they have completed their four-year course. Whilst some like to take advantage of the fact that we offer a complete journey through BMus, MMus Performance and our Artist Diploma in Opera, others go on to postgraduate study at a multitude of other institutions. Recent graduate destinations include:

  • Guildhall School of Music and Drama 
  • The Jacobs School of Music
  • Konservatorium Wien  
  • Covent Garden Jette Parker Scheme 
  • Welsh International Academy of Voice 
  • International Opera Studio Staatsoper Berlin 
  • Salzburg Festival Young Singers Project 
  • Opera Studio Bregenz Festivals 
  • Verbier Academy 
  • Royal Opera Den Norske

 Alumni include: 

  • Beth Taylor (Cardiff Singer of the World Finalist, 2023) 
  • Catriona Morison (Cardiff Singer of the World Winner, 2017) 
  • Svetlina Stoyanova (Neue Stimmen Winner, 2017)  
  • Anush Hovhannisyan (Cardiff Singer of the World Finalist, 2017)
  • Dominic Barberi (Cardiff Singer of the World Finalist, 2017)

Programme Structure

The programme structure for your studies will depend on whether you choose to undertake Vocal Performance principal study as part of BMus (Hons) Performance or BMus (Hons) Joint Principal Study. The content and modules for each programme are available on their respective pages:

BMus (Hons) Performance

BMus (Hons) Joint Principal Study


How to Apply

More information about how to apply, including entry requirements and tuition fee & funding information, is available on either our BMus (Hons) Performance page, or BMus (Hons) Joint Principal Study page, depending on which pathway you are interested in. The specific audition requirements for this principal study are detailed below:

Audition Information

In-person auditions are planned to take place at various locations across the world. Should you apply on time, an invitation to book an audition time slot will be sent to you via Acceptd, you must create an Acceptd account regardless of your audition location to be able to select your audition time. An interview will form part of your audition, this is a chance for the panel to find out more about you, as well having an opportunity for you to ask questions about the programme.

The RCS audition panel will consist of a relevant departmental staff member and the Head of Department. Our international auditions will consist of one panel member and will also be recorded for review by the relevant department.

All in-person auditions will be given a twenty-minute warm up slot prior to their audition.

Please note, for live auditions held at RCS in November, a two round audition process will be in place. Where possible please take this into consideration when booking travel. You will be informed on the day whether you have progressed to the second round.

Audition Dates

  • Singapore, 18 & 19 January 2025, SOTA – applicants are to bring their own accompanist where possible. If any problems or concerns, please email singaporeauditions@rcs.ac.uk
  • New York, 30 & 31 January 2025, Location TBC – applicants are to bring their own accompanist where possible. If any problems or concerns, please email usaauditions@rcs.ac.uk
  • Los Angeles, 25 & 26 January 2025, Location TBC – applicants are to bring their own accompanist where possible. If any problems or concerns, please email usaauditions@rcs.ac.uk

International applicants are welcome to submit a recorded submission via Acceptd if these dates are not suitable. A live online interview, if held, will assess the candidate’s suitability for the programme in terms of knowledge, experience and commitment.

Audition Repertoire

Details of the repertoire requested for your audition and submission can be found below: 

The panel are keen to hear you perform at your best, so choose music that suits your voice and enables you to show your individuality as a performer. 

You should prepare: 

  • three classical pieces in contrasting styles and moods, at least one of which should be in English and one in a foreign language. These should be sung from memory.  
  • a short poetry or prose reading in English lasting no longer than 2 minutes 

You will be asked to choose the first piece you wish to sing, the panel will then choose a further one or two pieces.

A typical programme may include an English art song or Folksong setting, an Arie Antiche and a German Lied or French mélodie; and a short poem in English. 

Candidates may be asked to respond to some simple aural skills tests. 

We do not issue specimen aural tests before the audition. 

Recording Guidelines 

  • When setting up for your video recording, your body (typically, from about the waist up) and instrument should be the focal point of the frame. The committee wants to be able to see not just your face but how well you navigate your instrument. 
  • The video recording should be provided in ONE continuous shot without separate tracks for different musical pieces. 
  • Please begin the recording by introducing yourself to the camera and stating what you will be performing. You can take a little time between pieces so long as your body must remain in the frame. 
  • For any pieces that were written for your instrument and piano accompaniment, you are encouraged to perform with piano accompaniment (whether live or pre-recorded) if practical for you. Be assured, however, that if this is not possible for you, then you will not be disadvantaged in any way. 

For more information on recording a video audition, Guitar Lecturer Matthew McCallister reveals his top tips on recording your music audition online:

 

More from the Vocal Performance Department

Why RCS?

We are the only place in Europe where you can study all of the performing arts on the one campus. There is a distinctive creative energy at RCS and you’ll be made to feel part of our inclusive and diverse environment from the very beginning of your studies.

Our graduates are resourceful, highly employable and members of a dynamic community of artists who make a significant impact across the globe.

At RCS, students develop not just their art but their power to use it.

Why RCS

A ballerina wearing a teal dress jumps over the Kelpies monuments in Scotland during a grey day.

World Top Ten


We were voted one of the world’s Top Ten destinations to study the performing arts (QS Rankings) in 2024, the eighth time we have been placed in the top ten since the ranking was established in 2016.