XVII The international
singing course
of Camerata
Sant Cugat

Comprehensive professional voice training

The international singing course of Camerata Sant Cugat celebrates its seventeenth edition with a program of concerts, activities and workshops that will take place in Sant Cugat from July 3 to 8.

The course

Since 2004, Camerata Sant Cugat has been organizing the Sant Cugat International Singing Course. During these years, the course has established itself as a reference in the world of vocal education, and lyrical singing in particular. The event is associated with the city of Sant Cugat and two of its most emblematic buildings: the Victòria dels Àngels Municipal School of Music and the cloister of the Monastery of Sant Cugat del Vallès. During these 16 years, more than 260 active students from 12 different countries have gone through the course.

This year we celebrate the seventeenth edition of the CIC organized by Camerata Sant Cugat, with the collaboration of the Sant Cugat del Vallès town hall, the Victòria dels Àngels Music Conservatory, Jaume Aragall Foundation, Friends of the Opera of Sabadell and Apròpera Association.

Dates

July 3 to 8, 2023

Official languages:

Catalan, Spanish and English.
Italian and French are also spoken.

Venue:

Victoria of the Angels Conservatory of Music (EMMVA)
Plaça del Centre Cultural 1
Sant Cugat, Barcelona

Camerata Sant Cugat

The course is organized by Camerata Sant Cugat, a renowned artistic company whose purpose is to promote the confluence of the different scenic disciplines, music, dance, theater and the performing arts in multidisciplinary shows.

Camerata promotes multidisciplinary technical training prioritizing the development of the voice as a fundamental element of expression.

Music is the central element of Camerata Sant Cugat’s productions on which other disciplines are combined with the aim of achieving expansion and encounter of forms.

Content:

· Vocal masterclasses
· Individual singing classes
· Individual and group work with pianist
· Breathing and body language workshops
· Daily individual Alexander Technique classes
·Group movement sessions (Alexander Technique)
· Stage interpretation seminars
· Closing concerts
· Dramaturgy workshops for the Lied and Les Cuirasses de la Veu-Métode Akiara

Aimed at:

· Professional singers
· singing students
· Choral directors
· Choral singers
· Professional music teachers
· Professional oral communicators

Detailed content of the course

The objective of the course is the integral training of the professional voice.

The course is oriented in a multidisciplinary and innovative way to train the singer in a global sense. The fact of incorporating in a structured way the various techniques of body education and re-education such as the Alexander Technique, breathing, movement, etc combined with a daily program of theatrical interpretation and vocal technique provide the student with an improved capacity for self-awareness of his own voice.

The course has created a pedagogical approach based on the principle of support, in a broad sense, as a starting point for free artistic expression. The development of the voice requires acquiring a sufficiently broad and solid technique so that the singer can improve his psychophysical self-awareness knowing that this awareness will be the main support system of his instrument. The quality of the voice depends on the correct use of oneself and this happens by learning to develop good breathing, a balanced and dynamic postural attitude, an adequate use of the right tension.

In parallel to this work, the student must prepare a repertoire of opera arias, oratorio and lied appropriate to their tessitura and specialty and practice it throughout the week to show a part of it in the two concerts end of Friday and Saturday. This repertoire is deepened mainly through four types of classes: those of vocal technique, co-rehearsal with a pianist, theatrical interpretation and integrated interpretation. The artistic quality that we want to enhance is based, on the one hand, on the need to consciously and thoroughly prepare the musical dimension of the work, that is, the score, the text and the context, and solve the vocal difficulties , and on the other, to reveal the artistic and theatrical ability to interpret the work expressively and freely in front of the public with a personal intention and meaning.

Information on the Alexander Technique

This technique has a hundred years of history and development. Today, medical professionals, artists and athletes all over the world recognize its effectiveness. In Spain, it begins to be used in several schools and conservatories. In well-known foreign schools, such as the Guildhall School of Music & Drama (London) and the Juilliard School (New York), it is part of the training programs for musicians, dancers and actors.

In the Alexander Technique classes we learn to get rid of the chronic tensions that, without knowing how, we have been accumulating and that have become fixed in the way we act and move. It is individual work in which the teacher will help the student, through gentle hand contact and appropriate instructions, to make the most of their natural capacity for coordination and balance.

Often, what we can do with grace, without apparent effort and as a result of our own energy, we end up doing it with an excessive load of tension, or making a great effort against laziness. Somehow we break the balance.

We have a great deal of responsibility for our health. In fact, there are factors that influence our physical and mental state that are under our control. We can always learn to make better use of our abilities.

The Alexander Technique allows us to do precisely this in a systematic, practical and concrete way. The teacher helps the student to feel more clearly and consciously his own psychophysical unity. We gradually learn to recognize and promote this unity. We learn to better appreciate the role that attitude and mental predisposition play in determining our physical condition, and we learn to develop a more efficient neuromuscular organization.

For more information consult the website of our teacher Nica Gimeno https://aptae.net/ca/profesor/nica-gimeno/

 

Levels and organization:

The course is designed for singing students and professional voice users. The program is offered at two levels: training and advanced.. The course is based on activities aimed at active students, in which the participation of listening students will be allowed.. Open lectures and two final concerts will be scheduled.

Dates and times:

On July 3 to 8, 2023

From Monday to Thursday from 9:30 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. and from 3:30 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.
Wednesday morning, Lied Dramaturgy workshop, from 10:30 a.m. to 1 p.m
Friday morning Akiara method workshop from 10am to 1pm
Friday afternoon rehearsal for the evening concert. Concert at 8pm.
Saturday morning free.
Afternoon 5pm rehearsal and rehearsal for the final concert. 8pm concert/final competition

Singing Awards:

Camerata Prize €600
Òpera a Catalunya Award: participation in the Opera School of the Amics de l´Òpera de Sabadell
Aragall Foundation Award: participation in tenor Jaume Aragall’s masterclass
Sant Cugat Apròpera Association Award: participation in Apròpera activities

More information about the awards:

In addition to the pedagogical function of the course, the Camerata Sant Cugat de Cant award is awarded each year at the closing concert.

This award is given together with other awards: master class scholarships from the Jaume Aragall Foundation, Apròpera award and awards for participation in the Opera School of the Friends of the Opera of Sabadell and the productions of Camerata Sant Cugat.

The students who perform in the final concert are eligible for the Camerata Sant Cugat de Cant Prize, endowed with 600 euros, awarded to the student selected in accordance with the verdict of the jury formed by Mrs. Mirna Lacambra, President of the Opera of Sabadell, Mrs. Sílvia Gasset, President of the Jaume Aragall Foundation, Mr. Marc Sala, President of the Associació Apròpera and the team of teachers for the course.

The winners of the different editions have been: Tizziana Guallianone (2004), Alba Rosa Foraster (2005), Carol Garcia (2006 and 2007), Ricardo Velásquez (2008), Mar Jordana (2009), Xavier Aguilar (2010), Eugènia Montenegro (2011), Sara Blanch (2012), Pablo Martínez and Cristina Fernández (ex-aequo, 2013), Sagrario Salamanca (2014), Michelle Francis Cook (2015), Beatriz de Souza and Maria del Mar Humanes (ex-aequo 2016) , Mariam Guerra and Carolina Fajardo (ex-aequo 2017), Adriana de León (2018) and Gisela Villamayor (2019)

Posters:

Teacher

Masters of the course

Francesca Roig, mezzosoprano

Carmen Bustamante, soprano

Vocal technique and interpretation

Jordi Casanova, tenor

Rosa Maria Conesa, soprano

Marisa Martins, mezzosoprano

Clara del Ruste, scene

Alexander technique

Nica Gimeno, Alexander technique

Laura Martínez, Alexander technique

Cecília Gassull, Akiara method

Marisa Martins, Lied Dramaturgy Workshop

Pianists

Manel J. Ruiz

Jordi Romero

Adrià Aguilera

Registrations

Rates

€550 active students
€275 active students half term
€100 listening students

Half of the registration allows you to attend half of the course (you must select 4 mornings or/and afternoons from Monday to Thursday, up to a maximum of 3 afternoons). It also allows you to attend the whole course as a listener and participate in the Friday concert and, exceptionally, in the final concert on Saturday depending on the consideration and approval of the teaching team. It is excluded to opt for the Camerata Sant Cugat 2023 Singing Prize.

Tuition: €160 active students (€80 mid-term), €30 listening students (send the receipt with the application form). The rest must be sent once the place is confirmed and before June 30.

Registration deadline:

June 16, 2023
Number of places for active students: 30 in total, higher degree and training.

Place confirmation:

Active students: Registration for the course will take place in order of receipt of the application form and registration receipt. Places will be confirmed as students register.

In order to ensure the best benefit of the course for the students, the organizers may decide to reassign a student to a different level, according to the auditions that will be held at the beginning of the course.

If an application form and enrollment is received by the deadline, but there are no vacancies, the student will receive the money or be able to enroll in the training level if there are still vacancies. Alternatively, in all cases, students can attend the course as listeners.

Listeners: Must complete and submit the application form and enrollment receipt. As the applications arrive, registrations will be made and students will receive a confirmation of registration. Students who register as listeners can attend masterclasses, individual classes, concerts and conferences and participate in group classes. All participants will receive a certificate of attendance.

Registration form

To register for the course, fill in the details of the form below and send the proof of payment of the registration to the email [email protected]

Remember that the registration fee to reserve a place is
€160 active students /€80 active students half term / €30 listening students

Data to make the payment:

By bank transfer: ES56 2100 0940 8402 0022 9591
IBAN ES56 2100 0940 8402 0022 9591
Bank: CAIXESB

Cancellation of registration by the student:

Any cancellation of enrollment received before June 16 (inclusive) will result in the refund of the amounts paid by the student with a deduction of €100 for active students (€50 for half-enrollment students) and 20 € for student listeners for organization, management and administrative expenses. Enrollment cancellations notified after June 16 do not result in a refund of the amounts paid.

The return of the amounts to be returned will be made from July 27 to 31.

Organizations and contact:

Xavier Baulies,
Camerata’s Sant Cugat director:

Jordi Casanova,
Course Director

Júlia Salvador,
Coordination of the course

Phone EMMVA: (+34) 935890551

collaborators