Voice Department • Main Page • Majoring in Performance • Careers in Performance • Courses • Faculty • Requirements • FAQs • Placement Auditions • Suggested Microphones • Typical Student Schedule

Many successful vocalists began their careers at Berklee—Tracy Bonham, Stacy Campbell, Paula Cole, Lynn Fidmont, Juliana Hatfield, Lalah Hathaway, Lauren Kinhan, Tim Owens, and Tierney Sutton. They came to Berklee because of who we are: the world's largest independent music school and the premier institution for the study of today's music.

The Voice Department at Berklee offers you the most comprehensive voice education to be found anywhere. We provide individualized instruction in all contemporary music styles, including jazz, pop, rock, and theater, and prepare you for both concert performance and studio work. We offer you professional faculty who are specialists, course work specifically designed to enhance your talents and abilities, and myriad performance opportunities. We know how voice fits into today's music world, and we give it the respect it deserves.

We know that the vocalist is a powerful musical leader. Whether on stage or in the studio, voice is one of the most flexible and expressive instruments, no matter the musical style. Studying at a college that offers you the broadest range of styles is the best way for you to take your singing and turn it into a career.

Studying Voice at Berklee

At Berklee, you will discover your range and develop your own style. You won't be limited to one direction. We encourage you to experiment with other styles that interest you, so that you can challenge yourself, improve your skills, and develop your craft. We will help you to become a vocalist with a strong musical identity.

Berklee prepares you for today's music by building on traditional aspects of learning. In all instruction offered in the Voice Department, emphasis is placed on achieving a solid foundation in the standard technical challenges of professional performance, including improvisation, reading, and interpretation. Also included is intensive training in sight-reading and in building repertoire as well as an acute awareness of vocal health.

Private Lessons

In your first week at Berklee, you will be given a placement audition by a voice faculty member, and the chair of the department will match you with the teacher best suited to your needs for private instruction. Every student will take at least four semesters of private lessons and must pass a final exam at the end of each semester on the skills learned.

Vocal Labs and Performance Studies Courses

These specialized voice classes bring together vocalists of similar performance levels and provide training in specific aspects of vocal performance. Many of the teaching materials used in these classes are created by the very Berklee faculty who will be teaching you. In addition to the required labs—Sight-Reading Techniques, Elements of Vocal Technique, and Vocal Styles (jazz, pop/rock, and r&b)—the elective labs include:

• Advanced Vocal Performance Labs 1 and 2
• Beginning Improvisation for Singers
• English Diction
• Guitar Accompaniment Skills for the Vocalist
• Microphones, P.A. Systems, and the Singer
• Musical Theater/Opera Scenes Workshop
• Practice Skills for the Studio Singer
• Performance Skills for the Live Background Singer
• Rehearsal Techniques for Vocalists
• Seminar on Latin American Music
• Stage Performance Workshop—Jazz
• Stage Performance Workshop—Rock and Pop
• Studio Techniques for the Lead Singer and Background Vocalist
• Survey of Vocal Styles
• Vocal Improvisation in the Jazz Idiom
• Vocal Lab—Jazz Fundamentals
• Vocal Lab—Reading 3
• Vocal Skills for the Self-Accompanied Vocalist

Course Work

The courses at Berklee are continually reviewed and evaluated so that they are up-to-date and consistently reflect today's musical needs. In classes such as Survey of Vocal Styles, you will learn the history of voice, analyze its present-day challenges, and participate in an in-depth study of styles and techniques.

Ensembles

Through ensembles, you will hone essential performance skills and techniques. They help you to broaden your stylistic range, to expand your network of musical friends and colleagues, and to gain diverse group-playing experience.

Berklee offers an ensemble experience for every entering student. Based on your placement audition, you may be eligible for the Rhythm Section and Vocalist Ensemble.

Ensembles are offered in multiple sections for varying levels of ability. You choose the group and style that appeal to you. Your eligibility is determined by ongoing auditions that measure your growth as a performer. This system enables you to move into higher level ensembles as you develop your skills.

More than 350 ensembles rehearse weekly at Berklee. These ensembles reflect nothing less than a full range of musical expression:

• African Pop Ensemble
• commercial pop/rock recording ensembles
• country music ensembles
• funk bands
• Gospel Choir
• jazz ensembles
• Jazz/Rock Ensemble
• Latin ensembles
• Musical Theater/Opera Performance Ensemble
• r&b ensembles
• Rhythm Section and Vocal Ensemble
• rock ensembles
• Vocal Jazz Ensemble

Visiting Artists

Through our Visiting Artist Series, you will be exposed to valuable first-hand career insight from some of the finest performers, songwriters, film composers, music business experts, and music professionals from every sector of the industry. Visiting vocal professionals have included: Oleta Adams H'94, Patti Austin, Cheryl Bentyne H'93, the Bobs, Carmen Bradford, Kurt Elling, Nnenna Freelon, Natalie Jackson, Billy Joel H'93, Kevin Mahogany, Richard Marx, New York Voices, Rebecca Parris, Smokey Robinson, Nancy Wilson H'94, and Trisha Yearwood.

Voice Rooms

The Voice Department has three amplifier-equipped rooms for private or small ensemble instruction and rehearsal. In addition, there are larger group instruction rooms complete with audio-visual learning aids. MIDI equipment, compact disc players, digital phrase samplers, videotapes, and audio tapes are used extensively for performance analysis classes and musical accompaniment. Voice Department performances and recitals are often videotaped for faculty and student analysis.

Voice Faculty

One-on-one faculty/student interaction is crucial to your Berklee education. As preparation for a career in the music industry, it is essential that you work intensively with men and women who have been living that career already. Berklee's voice faculty are innovative educators as well as experienced professional musicians. Their expertise in contemporary vocal techniques and technology make them invaluable as teachers.

The diversity of styles and experience of our faculty mean you will be exposed to the best education possible. You need not be restricted to one teacher throughout your education. You can work with any number of faculty during your time at Berklee, giving you the ultimate educational experience.

Our voice faculty includes:

Jan Shapiro Chair B.M., Howard University M.Ed., Cambridge College Vocalist with extensive performance experience in many styles Featured vocalist at the Boston Globe Jazz Festival Recipient of National Endowment for the Arts grant Published author for Charles Scribner & Sons, Oxford Press, IAJE Jazz Research Papers, IAJE Jazz Journal Adjudicator and clinician for IAJE, MENC, and NATS Recording artist for Read Between the Lines on Singing Empress
Bob Stoloff Assistant Chair B.M., Berklee College of Music Jazz vocalist and instrumentalist International festival appearances with Bobby McFerrin's Vocal Summit Internationally recognized adjudicator, clinician, and jazz choir consultant Author of Scat! Vocal Improvisation Techniques and Blues Scatitudes, Gerard/Sarzin

View all Voice Department faculty...

Berklee College of Music

Berklee was founded on two revolutionary ideas: that musicianship could be taught through the music of the time; and that our students need practical, professional skills for successful, sustainable music careers. While our bedrock philosophy has not changed, the music around us has and requires that we evolve with it.

For over half a century, we've demonstrated our commitment to this approach by wholeheartedly embracing change. We update our curriculum and technology to make them more relevant, and attract diverse students who reflect the multiplicity of influences in today's music. We prepare our students for a lifetime of professional and personal growth through the study of the arts, sciences, and humanities. And we are developing new initiatives to reach and influence an ever-widening audience.

More than a college, Berklee has become the world's singular learning lab for the music of today—and tomorrow. We are a microcosm of the music world, reflecting the interplay between music and culture; an environment where aspiring music professionals learn how to integrate new ideas, adapt to changing musical genres, and showcase their distinctive skills in an evolving community. We are at the center of a widening network of industry professionals who use their openness, virtuosity, and versatility to take music in surprising new directions.

Performance Facilities

The Berklee Performance Center, our largest facility, seats 1,220 and is constantly alive with student and faculty concerts sponsored by the college or professional performances sponsored by independent music producers. In addition, Berklee maintains four professional-quality recital halls for smaller concerts and gatherings. All in all, more than 650 college performances take place each year at Berklee. As you progress musically, you are sure to be part of many of them.

Learning Resources

• The Stan Getz Media Center and Library - offers an extensive collection of printed materials, audiotapes of Berklee performances and seminars, videotapes of concerts and clinics, and other instructional media for student use.
• Career Development Center - providing career counseling, a job board listing hundreds of employment opportunities, an extensive career library, and Macintosh computers for student use. This office also houses the Berklee Career Network, which provides students and alumni assistance in reaching their career goals.
• Learning Center - equipped with 40 computer-based MIDI workstations, 15 cassette stations, four tutoring/private study rooms, and a technology-based classroom, this is the largest networked music technology facility of its kind in the world.
• Studio and Lab Facilities
  Berklee offers a wide range of facilities specifically designed to help you realize your goal of becoming a professional musician. The technology at Berklee is that of the industry—the same equipment being used in studios and concert halls around the world.
• Recording Studio Complex - consists of 10 studio facilities that include 8-, 16-, and 24-track digital and analog recording capability, automated mixdown, digital editing, video postproduction, and comprehensive signal processing facilities.
• Synthesis Labs - feature more than 250 MIDI and digitally equipped synthesizers, expanders, drum machines, sequencers, and computers, including hard-disk recording.
• Professional Performance Division MIDI Lab - This five-station lab is designed to support your study of new electronic instrumental controller techniques. Featuring Macintosh computers, various synthesizer modules, and the latest in guitar, bass, keyboard, percussion, and woodwind MIDI controllers, the lab enables you to learn to adapt traditional playing techniques to complex electronic setup and control environments.
• Professional Writing Division MIDI Lab - offers the ability to produce high-quality demos of compositions, arrangements, and songs at individual workstations.
• Film Scoring Labs - provide professional training in film music composition, editing, sequencing, and computer applications.

Coming to Berklee

Special Annual Events
Berklee Voice Week in November is a biannual open house for vocalists. It blends Berklee faculty clinics/concerts, student concerts, product demonstrations, and major artist performances and clinics in a festival-like atmosphere. This may be an excellent time for you to come and take a look at what Berklee and the Voice Department have to offer.

Berklee Summer Programs
In addition to Berklee's full-time course of study, the college also offers 14 short summer programs focusing on a variety of instruments and music topics. In particular, the five-week Summer Performance Program covers all aspects of performance. It includes classes, workshops, and participation in ensembles as well as private lessons, lecture/demonstrations by faculty and visiting artists, and exposure to the latest innovations in music technology. You may read more about our Summer Programs online.

For Further Information

Complete application information can be found in the Berklee prospectus. Also available is information on the many scholarships available to outstanding student instrumentalists and vocalists. For a copy of the Berklee prospectus, or for further information about Berklee College of Music, please contact the Office of Admissions at (800) BERKLEE (toll-free within the U.S. and Canada), or (617) 747-2222.

Write to us at:

Office of Admissions
Berklee College of Music
1140 Boylston Street
Boston, Massachusetts 02215-3693
U.S.A.

Visit Admissions at:

921 Boylston Street, Suite 600
Boston, Massachusetts

E-mail us at admissions@berklee.edu.

Berklee College of Music does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, creed, religion, gender, national or ethnic origin, age, handicap, status as a disabled or Vietnam-era veteran, or sexual orientation in employment or in admission to and participation in any of its programs and activities. Any inquiries or grievances may be directed to the Vice President for Student Affairs/Dean of Students, Berklee College of Music, 1140 Boylston Street, Boston, Massachusetts 02215-3693, U.S.A., (617) 266-1400, or the Regional Director, Office of Civil Rights, U.S. Department of Education, Boston, Massachusetts.

If you have specific questions about the Voice Department, you may call Chair Jan Shapiro at (617) 747-2265, or e-mail her at jshapiro@berklee.edu. Assistant Chair Bob Stoloff is available via e-mail at bstoloff@berklee.edu. You may also contact Voice Department Faculty Advisor Charles Sorrento at (617) 747-8358, or send him e-mail at csorrento@berklee.edu.