Ensembles
Vocal Ensembles
The voice program at SUU offers several advantages over the programs at many larger universities. First, all voice majors and minors are taught by members of the faculty, and not by graduate assistants. Second, the principal voice professors in the Music Department average over 20 years of experience at the university/professional level and possess demonstrated professional experience, as illustrated by their ongoing performance as conductors and performers both nationally and internationally. Third, the comparatively smaller number of voice students receives greater personal attention.
As a result, both past and present students have displayed and continue to display an impressive range of performance accomplishments. Recent individual student accomplishments can be viewed by clicking Department Accomplishments on the Music Department Home Page. In 2006 Opus performed the Duruflé Requiem with other choirs at the Regional American Choral Director’s Association meeting in Salt Lake City. In 2004, Opus Chamber Choir performed Mozart’s Requiem at Carnegie Hall in New York City. In 2002, SUU’s Concert Choir was invited to perform Mahler’s 8th Symphony with the Utah Symphony and the Mormon Tabernacle Choir under the direction of Keith Lockhart.
The department offers a number of performing avenues for voice students, including by-weekly student recitals, as well as opportunities to perform on a solo and ensemble basis with choral groups and the SUU Opera Theatre. Music students who specialize in vocal studies are expected to sing on student recitals every semester and to perform inthe Concert Choir and at least one other ensemble.
The SUU Opera Theatre has performed several full length operas with orchestra during the last ten years. These operas include La Bohème, Carmen, The Marriage of Figaro, Gianni Schicchi, SuorAngelica, Trial by Jury, Amahl and the Night Visitors,and Susannah. The opera theatre will be presenting an original production celebrating opera called What’s Love Got to Do With It? in November 8-11, 2006 featuring numerous scenes from many popular operas. The SUU opera will be presenting the classic opera Hansel and Gretel with orchestra at the downtown Heritage Theater in Cedar City, March 28-31, 2007. Hansel and Gretel is sponsored in part by the Zaphiropoulos Foundation. The opera theatre has also performed the western premieres of several chamber operas such as Out of the Rain by Michael Ching, Eve's Odds by Bruce Trinkley and Jason Charnesky, and talk opera by Milton Granger. The 2002-2003 opera season included a production of scenes called Schemes, Scams, and Scoundrels as well as several performances of Sweet Betsy fromPike and Little Red Riding Hood.
Voice students who are music education majors are required to do a half-recital (30 minutes) as a senior; voice students who are obtaining a Bachelor of Arts degree with a performance emphasis are required to do a half recital as a junior and a full recital as a senior. All voice students are required to attend studio performance classes each week in addition to their applied lessons.
During the last ten years the vocal department of Southern Utah University has had a significant number of students who have competed and either placed or won in significant vocal competitions sponsored by the National Association of Teachers of Singing, Music Teachers National Association, National Opera Association, and the state Metropolitan Opera Auditions.
Opera Musical Theatre - A class which meets fall and spring semester, rehearses during class time and in the evenings as necessary. Students develop their acting and singing talents, culminating in fully staged, costumed, public performances.
Productions range from operatic scenes and musical theatre productions to dramatic and comic opera. Samples of recent work include an original work celebrating the 250th anniversary of Mozart’s birth called Myths, Mystique, and Mayhem: an original work titled The Lyric Kings celebrating the music of Cole Porter and Stephen Sondheim; and original work titled Christmas from the Heart as part of the American Children’s Christmas Festival; Carmen by Bizet; Guys and Dolls by Frank Loesser; Puccini's La Bohème; Mozart’s Marriage of Figaro; Celebrating Cole Porter; With a Song in My Heart, celebrating the music of Richard Rodgers; and A Gershwin Portrait.
Concert Choir - 
The SUU Concert Choir is a select performing group whose members are chosen by audition. Their choir performs in concert each semester on campus. Some samples of the choir's repetoire include Bach's Magnificat, Handel's Dixit Dominus, Vivaldi's Gloria, Mozart's Vespers and Faure's Requiem.
OPUS Chamber Choir - OPUS is a select chamber choir of around twenty-five voices. The group performs a wide variety of choral literature ranging from sixteenth century madrigals to contemporary music. OPUS is Southern Utah University's premiere vocal ensemble and has toured extensively in Utah, Nevada, Arizona, California, Washington, Canada and England.
Studio Voice - Voice students at Southern Utah University are trained to develop their voices in a healthy and technically sound manner. Studio training at SUU emphasizes technical excellence, and a thorough understanding of the fundamentals of voice production as well as providing students with a wide range of musical skills and literature. More advanced students have consistently competed and placed in state, regional and national competitions. This training is coordinated with solo and ensemble performances to give students ample experience in the development of performance and teaching abilities.
Auditions for all choral ensembles at SUU are held in the Fall during the first week of classes. Auditions for the opera program are posted in the music building outside room 204.