The Opera Insider Blog

Lamar Gaskins is a rising senior at the Duke Ellington School Of The Arts, located in Washington DC, where he studies classical music. He has been classically trained since the 9th grade and began private voice lessons at age 12. He plans on attending a music school for his undergraduate education and hopes to study voice performance at a conservatory or university music program such as San Francisco Conservatory, New England Conservatory, Boston Conservatory, California Institute for the Arts or Manhattan School of Music. He absolutely loves opera and can't wait to further expand on that career! The following is a short record of the first impressions he has from the Washington National Opera Institute for Young Singers!

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I auditioned for Placido Domingo's Washington National Opera Institute for Young Singers in February and was recently accepted into the Institute which was so exciting! The Institute runs for three weeks at the American University, Katzen Arts Center in Washington DC (June 21-July 10). At the Institute we take a wide range of courses including Music Theory, Ear Training, Sight Singing, Opera History, various development workshops, Masterclasses, Drama, Movement, Opera Scenes, Chorus and sessions with our Vocal coaches/accompanists and Voice Instructors. It's an intense schedule but it's so exciting and worth it! Last Friday I had a masterclass with the wonderful Angela Mannino! This was my first week at the Institute and it was just such an eye opener, being able to work with amazing faculty and students who love the same thing you do is most definitely a rewarding experience! We were all recently assigned Italian Art songs and Opera Scenes to prepare for our big recitals which are coming up next week. I will be singing "Quando ti rivedro" by Stefano Donaudy for my Italian Arts song recital and I will be singing Guglielmo in the Cosi fan Tutte opera duet with Dorabella. I look forward to developing my confidence, musicianship skills, stage presence, voice, Italian diction and music theory before I leave the Opera Institute.