Live Auditions in Asia - March 6 - March 20, 2008.  more information

We’ll help you make audition recordings:

While at PAI, students who plan to audition for music schools or competitions can arrange to have high-quality CD or audio cassette recordings made on our campus. This will take place in a sonically correct environment employing professional recording equipment and a seasoned recording engineer at a charge of $75.00. Professional accompanists also will be available for a small fee.

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:

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 solfeggio, 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:

Performing Arts Institute Orchestra - click image for larger view

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 2007 season Saturday evening performances in Great Hall included works such as “American in Paris” by George Gershwin, “Enigma Variations” by Edward Elgar, Brahm’s First Symphony, Tchaikovsky’s Fourth Symphony and “First Essay for Orchestra” by Samuel Barber.
• 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 “Poem” by Charles Griffes, “St. Paul’s Suite” by Gustav Holst, “Sea Songs” by Ralph Vaughan Williams and “Divertimento in D Major” by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.
• 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. 2007 performances included “Lux Aurumque” by Eric Whitacre, “Early Light” by Caroline Bremer, “Liturgical Dances” by David Holsinger, “Circus Band” by Charles Ives and “Festive Overture” by Dimitri Shostakovich.
• 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 “Gloria” by John Rutter, the American premier of “Dona Nobis Pacem” by Pëteris Vasks, “Freedom” by Duke Ellington, “Under the Willow Tree” by Samuel Barber and “The Circus Band” by Charles Ives.
  

• 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. “O Quam Amabilis Es” by Pierre Villette, “The Snow” by Edward Elgar, Telemann’s “Psalm 117,” “Mass for Peace” by Karl Jenkins and “Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis” by Herbert Howells were among the Chorale’s weekly repertoire in 2007.

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 Buckingham Performing Arts Center. “Minor Mystery” by Ellen Rowe, “Splanky” by Neal Hefti, “Road Runner” and “One O’clock Jump” by Count Basie were among the Jazz Band sounds heard at PAI in 2007.