Program Overview

Opera Theater

Courses and performances in Oberlin's Opera Theater program provide training in acting technique, musical style, linguistic accuracy, performance readiness, and audition skills. Faculty and coaches guide students in role study, movement and dance, staging, musicianship, directing, and diction and language skills. Each semester’s coursework culminates in a performance of scenes from the standard 17th- through 20th-century repertory and selected contemporary works. Fully staged operas with orchestra allow students to put theory into practice. With Oberlin's focus on nurturing the undergraduate singer, these are remarkable opportunities to put everything together in performances for enthusiastic audiences.

Program Facts

Program Type: Program
Division: Vocal Studies

Program Director

Timothy LeFebvre,
Professor of Voice

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On stage, two women sit next to a basket. — Oberlin Opera Theater's production of the “Rape of Lucretia” was complemented by a series of programs that addressed the often tragic role of women in art throughout the ages to Lucretia’s relevance in 21st-century America.

Photo credit: Yevhen Gulenko

Opera Theater Productions

Oberlin Opera Theater presents two major main stage productions with orchestra each year, in addition to a small-scale opera that is usually produced during Winter Term. Recent operas have included Bernstein's Candide, Mozart's La finta giardiniera, Britten's Albert Herring, Weill's Street Scene, and Monteverdi's L'Orfeo. Students enrolled in various opera classes also perform in a program of opera scenes presented each semester. Programs presented on the historic Finney Chapel stage have included scenes from Puccini's Gianni Schicchi, Donizetti's L’elisir d’amore, Stravinsky's The Rake’s Progress, Verdi's Don Carlo, and Copland's The Tender Land.