The Choir Academy of the Vienna State Opera was founded in 2014 to provide young singers with an opportunity to gather practical experience following their professional studies. The program focuses on active participation as a chorus singer at the Vienna State Opera and on preparing Academy members for a career as an opera chorus singer.
Members of the Choir Academy have two main responsibilities: together with the Extra Chorus, they support and reinforce the State Opera Chorus in operas that require a particularly large choral cast, such as La bohème, Don Carlo, Tannhäuser or Parsifal. Its members also perform as the main chorus in select works, such as Il ritorno d'Ulisse in patria, The Abduction from the Seraglio or Animal Farm.
Training at the Choir Academy expands on and deepens the knowledge and skills that its members bring into the program. They learn operatic chorus parts in choir rehearsals as well as in one-on-one training sessions, in stage rehearsals and, above all, by regularly taking part in the staged performances of the Vienna State Opera. Academy students thereby gain intensive professional experience as singers in the opera choir. They also continue to be coached as soloists and receive continuous support in preparing for competitions and auditions. Occasional concert performances by the Choir Academy complete the training program.
Successful graduates of the Choir Academy have gone on to work at opera houses such as the German National Theatre in Weimar, La Monnaie in Brussels, the Landestheater Innsbruck, Theater Lübeck and the choir of the Vienna State Opera, among others.
Auditions take place in spring. Admission to the Vienna State Opera Choir Academy always takes place at the beginning of a season on September 1st.
Participation in the academy is intended for a period of up to two years.
We are happy to answer your questions about the Choir Academy.
chorakademie@wiener-staatsoper.at
Carl Philipp Fromherz (Artistic Director) & Larissa Weidler (Administrative Director)
