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Voice - Michael Rice, Instructor
About instructor Michael Rice
Course Syllabus
In addition to technical training in the four basic principles of singing (respiration, phonation, resonance, articulation), students at the beginning level receive instruction in performance etiquette, English and Italian diction, and career choices. Depending upon student readiness and vocal ability, participation in state and regional competitions may be encouraged. Although the Fine Arts Center's emphasis is on legitimate, classical solo singing, students study musical theatre and participate in small ensembles; they are also expected to keep abreast of current events in the field of classical singing. Students may participate in master classes, observe workshops and/or attend performances.
By the completion of Voice Level I, a student will have improved his/her vocal technique, diction, posture, stage etiquette, vocal quality and performance communication as well as developed an awareness of music history, basic styles and performance practices; The student will also have built a basic repertoire of Italian and English vocal music suitable for performance at the teacher's discretion.
By the completion of Voice Level II, a student will have met the objectives of Level I and will have augmented his/her repertoire with German and French Art Songs suitable for scholarship auditions and recitals.
Voice Level III is a college preparatory class. Emphasis is on repertoire, performance, and audition procedures.
Voice Level IV is an expansion of Level III. In addition to the objectives for that level, students will learn to use regular class time doing research and practicing on an independent directed-study basis and will be tested on reading and listening assignments as in regular voice class. Assignments will take them to libraries, recitals, concerts, lectures, etc., and performances will be evaluated on a regular basis.
Students on all levels are expected to attend musical performances in the community.
NEWS
In July, soprano Megan Reader sang the role of the Queen of the Night in Mozart's The Magic Flute in Naples, Italy, and in the surrounding areas of Sorrento and the Amalfi Coast. She recently earned her master's degree in voice from Boston University.
Tenor Delvin Choice has been cast as one of the three male leads in the Greenville Little Theatre's fall production of Ain't Misbehavin', featuring the music of the legendary Fats Waller. Choice will be a fourth-year voice student at the Fine Arts Center.
Kelly Clarke attended the USC Summer Music Conservatory from June 24 to July 1. The weeklong camp consisted of a daily music history and theory class as well as private lessons, chamber music and master classes. At the end of the camp, Kelly sang the role of Hansel in a scene from the opera Hansel and Gretel and performed on the student recital.
Annie Elie was a participant in the 2007 Summer Music Camp at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. During the week of July 29-August 4, she sang on master classes, took voice lessons and music theory classes, and was selected to sing on Cabaret Night.
Michael Rice spent the first two weeks of August traveling around Egypt. Beginning in the Cairo area, he visited the Pyramids of Giza, the Sphinx, the Egyptian Museum and Saladin's Citadel and its Mosque of Mohammed Ali. He took a day trip to the ancient capital city of Memphis (not to be confused with the Elvis one) and Saqqara where the amazing Step Pyramid is said to be the first stone structure on Earth! Before leaving Cairo, he visited a carpet school, the Sobek Papyrus Institute and the Egyptian Perfume Palace. Flying south to Luxor, he boarded the MS Orchid for a week-long cruise along the Nile. Along the way, he took shore excursions to see Horus' Temple in Edfu, the double temple at Kom Ombo, and the Temple of Isis on Philae Island in Aswan. He also visited the Aswan High Dam and sailed in a felucca around Elephantine Island. Back in Luxor, he toured both the Karnak Temple complex and Luxor Temple. At the Valley of Kings, Mr. Rice entered four tombs including that of Tutankhamen, the famous boy king, and marveled at the Temple of Hatshepsut built into the mountainside. At sunrise the next day, he took a hot-air balloon ride over Luxor's west bank. The trip concluded with a flight back to Cairo for one last night.
