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Music Performance

VOICE

Department Head Judi Donaghy and the McNally Smith voice faculty bring decades of formal voice training and professional experience to the classroom. Voice majors embark on a process of developing their talents and musicianship. They study a wide variety of styles that apply to the voice, from classical and musical theater, to popular music styles of the 20th and 21st Centuries. Students receive numerous opportunities to sing- on stage, in the classroom, and in the studio and in local venues. In addition to key classes, the curriculum includes reading development, vocal pedagogy, and diction.
KEY CLASSES

Vocal Technique
Classes move from basic concepts like full-body resonance, primal sound, and vocal health through advanced applications like non-Western singing styles.

Applied Theory
This curriculum applies basic techniques to contemporary jazz, rock, soul, and Latin repertoire. Students explore improvisational theory and concepts such as call and response, vocal percussion, and lyric improvisation.

Music Interpretation
Classes challenge the student to acquire cold-reading skills and develop solo and group strategies. Our faculty mentors advance students through the steps required of professional singers to build a set, read an audience, develop and interpret repertoire, and lead an ensemble.

 

Commonly Searched Phrases: Vocal Performance Colleges | Singing School | Voice Training Schools
CAREERS

  • Commercial Production Talent
  • Musical Theater
  • Private Instructor
  • Recording Artist
  • Singer/Songwriter
    Jill Marie Diem
    Jill Marie has performed with Clay Aiken in his 2005 Joyful Noise Tour, has toured nationally with "Three Hits and a Miss," and sang with the Minnesota Zephyr Cabaret.
  • Jill Marie Diem
    • Lori Dokken
    Lori Dokken has played and appealed to the patrons of every major and minor music venue in Minneapolis and St. Paul.
  • Lori Dokken
    • Judi Donaghy
    Department Head, Voice
    Judi has worked in opera, musical theater, jazz, folk, country, gospel, pop, and R&B.
  • Judi Donaghy
    • Debbie Duncan
    Debbie Duncan has 14 years of vocal training, including four years at Wayne State University-Detroit and a background steeped in jazz, gospel and Motown.
  • Debbie Duncan
    • Steve Faison
    Assistant Department Head, Ensembles; Director of Outreach
    Steve is one of the most versatile performers in the Twin Cities, working as an instrumentalist, guitar, bass, percussion, vocalist, producer, arranger, and recording engineer in sessions and live performances.
  • Steve Faison
    • Peggy Larson
  • Peggy Larson
    • Erin Schwab
  • Erin Schwab
    • Mary Cay Stone
  • Mary Cay Stone
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