Course Syllabus: Fall, 2008

Course Description: Preparation for performance of staged operatic production. Prerequisite: Successful completion of Bachelor of Music Qualifying Exam or permission of instructor required. May be repeated for credit. Enrollment in MUSC 3530 in Fall Semester is a commitment also to enroll for MUSC 3530 in Spring Semester; Fall-only participation is not available.

Course Objectives and Music Program Outcomes:

Students will learn about the nature of professional career work in the opera field and work toward professional competence in that field by

learning and practicing skills in text and score analysis necessary for effectively preparing theatrical music and developing characterization. (BM 1-3, 5, 6, 8; BA 1, 2, 4, 7)
preparing and memorizing the music and text of roles they will perform and/or cover in the CSU production during March of 2009. (BM 1-3, 5, 6, 8; BA 1, 2, 4, 5, 7)
beginning to develop a dramatically viable characterization of those roles, based upon a written summary of their analysis of the givens of the libretto and score and their own text-imagination work. (BM 1-3, 5-8; BA 1-7)
All students will gain some cursory experience with non-singing aspects of the opera industry. Some students who are not cast in the opera, or who do not wish to perform but still wish to participate, may be able to receive credit for working in a theatre tech capacity in addition to studying analysis and performance skills with the rest of the cast. In such cases, students will meet the objectives above in areas of the opera field other than performance. These may include theatre tech, design, dramaturgy, stage management or other activities. See instructor for details.

University Outcomes: Develops skills in critical thinking and communication.

Required Texts: Benjamin Britten: Noye’s Fludde. Piano-vocal score. Boosey & Hawkes, reprint 2000. ISMN M-060-01480-2.

David Ostwald. Acting for Singers. Oxford University Press, 2006.

Course Schedule: 4 lab hours per week: 1 academic credit

(Tue-Thu 5:00-7:00; Rooms 150 and 157, Music Building)

NB. Expect to attend every class, either for musical coaching, for group theatre exercises, or acting work. Specific rehearsal schedules will be posted the previous week. Major events listed below:

Tue 2 Sept: Faculty In-service Day: NO CLASS

Thu 02 Oct: MIDTERM: “GIVENS” LIST DUE

Tue 07 Oct: Midterm Advisory Grades Posted to the DUCK

(Fri 10 Oct: Last day to drop courses without academic accountability)

Tue 25 Nov: Just a reminder: this IS a class day; we will use it.

Thu 27 Nov: THANKSGIVING HOLIDAY—NO CLASS. Eat turkey…

Tue 02 Dec: Finished written character analyses due

Thu 04 Dec: Last class rehearsal (possibly begin final if time needed)

NOTE: ALL STUDENTS ENROLLED IN THE COURSE ARE EXPECTED TO PARTICIPATE IN ONE FOUR-HOUR TECH CALL ON AN EVENING OR A SATURDAY; COMPLETE SCHEDULE TBA

FINAL (FOR MEMORY) TBA. The University still has not set a final exam schedule for the Fall 2008 semester.

Grading:

Attendance and quality of participation/preparation: 30%

Midterm and Givens Assignment: 20%

Theatre Tech Work: 10%

Final text-imagination characterization paper: 15%

Final performance: 25%

TOTAL GRADE: 100%

NOTE: Students who are not off book by the final may be replaced and not perform in the March opera production.

Attendance and quality of participation/preparation evaluation includes

ü Being present, on time and ready to work, for all calls

ü Being prepared for all calls, with music, text, or other material assigned properly prepared

ü Bringing a willing spirit of inquiry and experimentation to all calls

ü A collegial and cooperative attitude toward instructors and fellow ensemble members

ü Making optimal use of class time when the student is not called for a specific rehearsal so as to continue to progress even when not working with a director

TOTAL POINTS: 120 (30 classes x 4 points—being tardy loses 1 point)

(Course Outcomes 1-3)

Midterm includes

ü Being able to speak and sing musically and textually correctly selected sections from assigned script and score and to demonstrate that progress has been made toward solving vocal-technical problems and characterization challenges. This is not a performance, but it should be perfect in its purely notational mechanics (e.g., pitches, rhythms, words).

ü Preparation (to be turned in at the midterm) of a written summary of all the “givens” of the entire scores (even if only scenes assigned) concerning assigned characters, with page number references

TOTAL POINTS: 80

(Course Outcomes 1-3)

Text-Imagination Characterization Paper: see handout

TOTAL POINTS: 60

(Course Outcomes 1 and 3)

Tech Call grading criteria

ü Following instructions exactly and carefully

ü Industry of application. Standing around and talking during a tech call will not earn you points

ü Being present, on time and ready to work

TOTAL POINTS: 40 (Being tardy loses 25% of points)

(Course Outcome 4)

Final includes

ü Being able to speak and sing your entire part(s) musically and textually correctly for memory and demonstrate significant vocal-technical and aural characterization progress over midterm performance

ü Musical and textual accuracy should be performance level; parameters of technique and characterization should be at a high level but may still be in progress

TOTAL POINTS: 100

(Course Outcomes 1-3)

SEMESTER TOTAL: 400 points

Mid-Term Progress Report: The mid-term grade in this course, which will be issued by 7 Oct 2008, reflects approximately 10% of the entire course grade. Based on this grade, students may choose to withdraw from the course and receive a grade of W. Students pursuing this option must fill out an official withdrawal form, available in the Office of the Registrar, by mid-term, which occurs on 10 Oct 2008.

CSU Computing Requirements and Responsibilities: Each student enrolled at Clayton State University is required to have ready access throughout the semester to a notebook computer that meets faculty-approved hardware and software requirements for the student’s academic program. Also, each student is responsible for monitoring the Clayton State issued e-mail address on a regular basis for official communications from faculty and administrators. For further information on CSU’s Official Notebook Computer Policy, please go to http://itpchoice.clayton.edu/policy.htm. Specific computer and e-mail requirements for this course include checking your CSU e-mail account and the Opera Production website regularly for changes in rehearsal calls and using electronic research and information-dissemination methods. Students may make class presentations using their laptop computers but will not ordinarily need them for class.

Policy on Late and Missing Work: In an ensemble situation, it is not possible to make up to one’s colleagues the work that one has missed. If one member of the ensemble is not participating fully, then the work of all members suffers. Live theatre happens only in the moment, so late work will not be accepted.

University Attendance Policy: Students are expected to attend and participate in every class meeting. Instructors establish specific policies relating to absences in their courses and communicate these policies to the students through the course syllabi. Individual instructors, based upon the nature of the course, determine what effect excused and unexcused absences have in determining grades and upon students’ ability to remain enrolled in their courses. The university reserves the right to determine that excessive absences, whether justified or not, are sufficient cause for institutional withdrawals or failing grades.

What This Means To You in THIS Class: When you accept a role in a CSU opera, you have made a commitment not just to me, but more importantly to your peers and classmates, to fulfill an obligation to rehearse and perform with them. If you are not present, they can’t do their work. I will not drop students from the course for non-attendance and tardiness, because I may not be able to replace that cast member. (HOWEVER, if your absences or tardiness have been disruptive, and I CAN replace you, I certainly will. In that case, you will remain in the course, but I wouldn’t like to be receiving your grade.) Two unexcused missed rehearsals prior to production week will lower your grade by one letter. Any unexcused missed rehearsal during production week will lower your grade by two letters. An unexcused missed performance is an automatic failure in the course.

Conduct Expectations: Students must abide by policies in the Clayton State University Student Handbook, the Basic Undergraduate Student Responsibilities, and the Music Student Handbook. The following link is to the Basic Undergraduate Student Responsibilities from Clayton State’s online Academic Catalog: http://a-s.clayton.edu/BasicUndergraduateStudentResponsibilities.htm. Please familiarize yourself with these responsibilities as part of your contractual relationship with Clayton State University. The Clayton State University Student Handbook may be found at the following URL:

http://adminservices.clayton.edu/studentaffairs/StudentHandbook/foreword.htm

The use of tobacco, cell phones, pagers, PDAs or the Internet is prohibited during class and rehearsal times.

Academic Dishonesty Policy: Any type of activity that is considered dishonest by reasonable standards may constitute academic misconduct. The most common forms of academic misconduct are cheating and plagiarism. Instances of academic dishonesty will result in a grade of zero for the work involved. All instances of academic dishonesty will be reported to the Office of Student Life/Judicial Affairs.

Students with disabilities who require reasonable accommodations need to register with Disability Services (DS) in order to obtain their accommodations. You can contact them at 678-466-5445 or disabilityservices@clayton.edu. If you are already registered with DS and are seeking accommodations for this course, please make an appointment with me to discuss your specific accommodation needs for this course and give me your accommodations letter.