| Cynthia Hoffman
Voice
 Cynthia Hoffmann is a member of the voice faculties of Manhattan
School of Music, where she also teaches a class in vocal performance,
and The Juilliard School, where she has served as chairperson since
l995. She directed the Judith Raskin Opera Class at the 92nd Street Y
School of Music from 1984–92 and has been a summer voice faculty member
of the American Institute of Musical Studies (AIMS) in Graz, Austria;
the International Institute of Vocal Arts in Chiari, Italy; the Yong
Pyong Music Festival in Korea; the Bowdoin Music Festival in Maine; the
Centro Studi Italiani program in Urbania, Italy; the Aria International
program; and the University of Miami School of Music program in
Salzburg, Austria.
Ms. Hoffmann has presented master classes at colleges and universities
across the United States, including several for various regions of the
National Association of the Teachers of Singing; the AIMS program; the
University of Miami (Ohio and Florida); the San Francisco Conservatory
of Music; and recently for the University of Southern California,
Chapman College, and the University of Redlands. She has been a
frequent master teacher for the Voice Foundation's symposia on the care
of the professional voice. She has also been a recitalist and master
teacher at Kang Nung University in Kang Nung, Korea. Ms. Hoffmann
maintains a professional voice studio in New York City. Her students
have appeared with the Metropolitan and New York City operas, as well as
with other major opera companies in the U.S. and abroad, including those
in Berlin, Chicago, Covent Garden, Glyndebourne, Houston, and Los
Angeles; as well as Paris, San Francisco, Santa Fe, Seattle, Zurich and
Wolf Trap. Her students have been winners of Metropolitan Opera National
Council awards; Richard Tucker Foundation study grants; Sullivan,
George London and Puccini Foundation grants; the Joy in Singing award
recital; the Marilyn Horne Foundation recital awards “On Wings of Song”;
the Belvedere Competition; and the Placido Domingo Operalia competition.
Ms. Hoffmann received her academic degrees from the University of
Redlands and Columbia University, with professional study at the
University of Southern California. Her coaches have included Hugues
Cuenod, Judith Raskin, Gerard Souzay, Ralf Gothoni, Robert Evans, and
Martin Katz. She has studied voice with Margaret Schaper, Vera Rozsa,
Margaret Harshaw, Beverley Peck Johnson, Daniel Ferro, Oren Brown, and
Larra Browning. She has also participated in the professional acting
classes of Sanford Meisner, the former director of the Neighborhood
Playhouse, and Wynn Handman, director of the American Place Theater.
Ms.Hoffmann has studied the Alexander Technique for more than 15 years
and considers it an important part of her work. She has studied and
completed one year of teacher training under Ann Rodiger and has also
worked with Troup Matthews, Misha Magidov, Marjorie Barstow, Richard
Levine, Judah Catalan, and Laurie Schiff.
Ms. Hoffmann has been heard in recital and opera on both the East and
West coasts.She has also appeared in several Off-Broadway plays. She
has recorded for the Vanguard Label and has been heard on radio and
television in Boston and New York, as well as on NBC Television in Los
Angeles. Ms. Hoffmann lives in New York City and Carversville,
Pennsylvania, with her husband, John Ditsler, a lawyer and avid music lover.
Ms. Hoffmann received an honorary doctorate in music from the University
of Redlands in 2002.
Manhattan School of Music faculty since l976.
The Juilliard School faculty since l991
Gayletha Nichols
2007 Regional Judge
Ms. Nichols joined the artistic staff of the Metropolitan Opera in the fall of 2000 as Executive Director of the National Council Auditions. She has brought to the Met two decades of experience as a singer, teacher and career advisor. From 1992-2000, she was Director of Houston Opera Studio, the young artist development program at Houston Grand Opera, where she created and individualized the training both for singers and pianists. During the 2001-2002 and 2002-2003 seasons, she was director of both the Lindemann Young Artist Development Program and MONC. Ms. Nichols auditions hundreds of singers across North America every year and in her travels addresses many universities, conservatories, and festivals on developing the next generation of opera singers. She is a frequent adjudicator in national and international competitions and consults for other young artist programs across the country.
Vocal Program
Vocal Program, Faculty
|
