Vocal Performance

Career potential

Choosing performance with a specialization in voice as your major at the University of North Texas will prepare you for a career as a soloist or as a member of an ensemble. In addition to performing, you may teach private voice lessons at a high school or university.

You will need to major in general, choral and instrumental music in the College of Music to become certified as a full-time music teacher in the public schools. To perfect your technique as a performer, you may also want to earn a master's degree.

UNT vocal graduates are solo singers on the rosters of the Metropolitan Opera, Covent Garden, Teatro alla Scala, Royal Opera House, Vienna State Opera, Opéra National de Paris and many others.

UNT's Career Center can help you prepare to pursue your career. The center has information about jobs and employers, and the staff can help you with resume and letter writing, job search strategies, and interview preparation.

Majoring in performance

As a performance major with a specialization in voice, you will complete 20 academic hours of private lessons from faculty members to accumulate a balanced repertoire of songs and arias from many different musical styles and periods. You also will take courses in vocal literature (studying solo literature since the Renaissance) and classical solo vocal idioms, and the science and pedagogy of singing (studying articulation, phonation, resonation and respiration).

In addition, you will complete diction courses in English, French, German and Italian and two years of language courses in French, German or Italian. You also will present public recitals during your junior and senior years and be required to enroll in UNT's Opera Theater for two semesters, participating in the theater's productions each semester.

UNT's music faculty consists of dedicated teachers as well as nationally and internationally known performers who have performed in operas, concerts and recitals around the world.

Getting hands-on experience

As a performance major with a specialization in voice, you will have many opportunities to perform with on- and off-campus groups. Ensembles in the College of Music include the A Cappella Choir, Canticum Novum, Concert Choir, and men's and women's choruses. Members of the A Cappella and Concert choirs belong to the Grand Chorus, as well. The college also features the acclaimed Jazz Singers.

Off campus, you may audition and perform in musicals presented by communities in the Dallas-Fort Worth region, or at churches and restaurants. Some students perform in the choruses of the Dallas and Fort Worth operas, with the Vocal Majority in Dallas, or with the Denton Bach Society, Denton Community Chorus or Music Theatre of Denton.

Preparing for UNT

If you are a high school student, we suggest you prepare for college by becoming computer proficient and taking:

• English … 4 years
• Math … 4 years
• Social science — economics, geography, government, history … 4 years
• Science … 3 years
• Foreign language … 3 years
• Fine arts … 1 year

You will need to take courses in most of these subjects under the university core curriculum required of all undergraduates, in addition to your major courses. Talk with your high school counselor about preparing for college, including the entrance exams (SAT Reasoning Test or ACT) that you should take during your junior year.

To prepare for a major in performance with a specialization in voice, you should already be taking voice lessons and participating in your high school choir. You also should be taking piano lessons and studying music theory.

As a benefit for transfer students, UNT participates in the Texas Common Course Numbering System. This system makes it easier to transfer credits for general academic courses from one Texas institution to another.

If you're attending a Texas community college, you should consult the UNT Transfer Guide, the UNT Undergraduate Catalog and an academic counselor/ advisor to discuss your degree plan. Proper planning will help you receive the maximum amount of transfer credits.

You must be admitted to the College of Music through an audition before declaring a major in performance with a specialization in voice. Auditions are held on and off campus during the spring semester for enrollment the following fall. If you cannot audition in person, you may submit a recording. Once you are accepted into the college, you will take placement exams in music theory and piano.

Charting your path with academic advising

Degree plan advisors in the College of Music will help you each semester to select courses necessary to earn your degree. Your professors also will guide you in selecting courses and give you career advice.

The undergraduate advising office is in the Music Building, Room 260.

Curious about courses you'll take in this major? See a sample degree plan.