Music

The Health and Wellness of PAI Performers

We are committed to teaching students how to maintain healthy performance practices. With increased body and health awareness, PAI students have the potential of increasing their performance standard, vitality and creativity. Topics of instruction in the voice, instrumental and dance studios include basic anatomy, posture, breathing, vocal health, diet, stretching, stress, yoga, Pilates and common injuries. Experts in the Taubman and Feldenkrais approaches technique for piano and string players will present masterclasses this coming season. In addition, Dr. Cari Tellis will provide PAI vocalists with comprehensive voice evaluations – including acoustic and aerodynamic and videostoboscopic testing – an invaluable baseline measure of vocal function.

A structured daily schedule:

At the Performing Arts Institute of Wyoming Seminary, a structured daily schedule allows time for students to accomplish their goals, whether preparing for a career in music or for a lifetime of artistic enjoyment. No two students take the same combination of classes and rehearsals. Instead, they are guided in scheduling a mixture of core requirements (available at various ability levels) and sessions that support a student’s specific goals.

At the core of every musician’s PAI experience:

Shanghai Quartet Masterclass

Masterclasses: For one hour each day, students gather for masterclasses, where faculty members coach soloists and chamber ensembles or address topics that are specific to their instruments. Discussions such as proper breathing, recital repertoire, comparative recordings, sectional playing and baroque ornamentation inspire musical maturity. The masterclass setting provides a public forum that stimulates and reinforces learning.

Theory Classes: Daily theory classes give students the opportunity to analyze music by means of traditional academic theory, which they can then apply in rehearsal. Students place into one of three levels of traditional theory. In addition, an advanced-topics class is offered to students who have completed all three levels. The class changes yearly, enabling returning students to take new music theory offerings each season.

Institute Chorus: In the middle of each day, students and counselors break from their individual schedules and come together for Institute Chorus. They practice sight singing, learn a varied choral repertoire and – equally important – meet as a unified group.

Practice: Essential practice time is built into every student’s schedule. Whether preparing for ensembles, private lessons, or solo performances, students will have time every day for individual practice.

Private Lessons: Although students are required to take only one private lesson per week, teachers are available for additional lessons. Instruction is offered on all instruments, as well as voice and in composition. Payment for each lesson is an additional fee, paid directly to the teacher by the student. 

Performing Organizations:

Every major performing organization at PAI enjoys the opportunity to work with outstanding international guest conductors; each group will have from three to five different conductors over the six-week period. This variety provides ensemble members with exposure to diverse musical styles as our conductors bring their own experience, training, interpretation, and nation’s musical traditions to the podium.

Instrumental Track:

The Symphony Orchestra is comprised of teachers, counselors, and students who rehearse for one and a half hours each day on repertoire at the professional level. Qualified wind and brass players rotate in their sections according to the repertoire’s orchestration and the degree of difficulty. Our 2012 Saturday evening performances in Great Hall included works such as "Symphony No. 2," by Gustav Mahler, "Carnival Overture" by Antonín Dvořák, and "Symphony No. 1," by Johannes Brahms to name just a few.

The Chamber Orchestra for strings rehearses one hour each day, leading up to Saturday evening performances. Last season, students, along with their mentors, performed works such as “Concerto Elegiaco” by Leo Brouwer, “Symphony No. 25 in G minor, by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and "Trauermusik (Music of Mourning)" by Paul Hindenmith.

The Wind Ensemble performs every week in the Buckingham Performing Arts Center. Rehearsing the best of the traditional and modern wind ensemble repertoire, the group meets daily for one and a half hours. 2012 performances included “Lincoln Portrait" by Aaron Copland, "Olympic Fanfare and Theme" by John Williams, and “Suite, Passion in Paint" by Henri René.

Chamber Music (string, woodwind, brass or mixed) is a staple of daily life at PAI as each student is assigned to a chamber ensemble and coached by a member of the PAI faculty. They rehearse daily for an hour and perform for masterclasses as well as in public concerts. As students are exposed to the chamber music repertoire, they develop ensemble and leadership skills and move toward musical independence.

Vocal Track:

Beyond the core classes and the choruses, vocal track students may move in two directions: they may follow the traditional solo and ensemble repertoire into vocal masterclasses, opera, music history, and keyboard skills, or they may participate in musical theater.

The Institute Chorus is the organization that brings PAI together. All students and counselors rehearse daily for one hour and perform each Saturday evening.

Repertoire for Institute Chorus represents a broad range of genres. Frequently, it performs larger works with orchestral accompaniment. Last season, repertoire of the Institute Chorus included "Symphony No. 2" by Gustav Mahler, "Amavolovolo" a tradional Zulu, "Dona Nobis Pacem" by Johan Sebastian Bach and "Across the Bridge of Hope" by Jan Sandström.

Masterworks Chorale, PAI’s select vocal ensemble, rehearses for one and a half hours each day. In these intense sessions, the objective is to refine vocal ensemble skills, improve sight-reading, and gain familiarity with a wide variety of musical styles and composers. “Sicut Cervus" by Reginald Unterseher, "Three Songs of Spring" by Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy, "With drooping wings, from Dido and Aeneas " by Henry Purcell, "Espiritu de Dios," traditional Cuban, and "Mouth Music" by Dolores Keane and John Faulkner were among the Chorale’s weekly repertoire in 2012.

Piano Track:

The program for pianists includes chamber and solo performance, as well as theory, music history, masterclasses, private study, and practice. Pianists participate in Institute Chorus and may also participate in Masterworks Chorale and Jazz Band.

Jazz Track:

Students who audition successfully into the jazz track work closely with faculty in daily combo rehearsals, classes (improvisation, jazz piano, jazz theory, jazz masterclass and jazz history) and Jazz Band. Students are exposed to a variety of jazz genres and performance traditions, rapidly improving their abilities as they perform side-by-side with PAI’s outstanding professional faculty. Rotating Jazz Band directors and guest artists also significantly shape the attitudes of aspiring jazz musicians in masterclasses, student jam sessions and free-improvisation gatherings. 

The Jazz Band rehearses daily for 75 minutes and performs every week on the stage of the Buckingham Performing Arts Center. Impressions by John Coltrane, Yard Bird Suite, by Charlie Parker, Flying Home by Benny Goodman, King of the Timbales (A Tribute to Tito Puente,) and the music of Sammy Nestico were just a few of the Jazz Band sounds heard at PAI in 2012. 

Costs and Dates

Full 6-Week Program

June 23 - August 4, 2013

Session 1

June 23 - July 14, 2013

Session II

July 14 - August 4, 2013