The Artist Diploma in Early Music is a one-year, post-baccalaureate, performance-oriented program designed for students already performing at a high level who seek additional intensive private instruction, coaching, and ensemble performance experience. Enrollment in this highly selective program is limited to 12 artists; both vocalists and instrumentalists are encouraged to apply.
“We’re excited to announce the new Artist Diploma in Early Music,” said Cornish Music Department Chair Kent Devereaux, “and at the prospect of providing an opportunity for the next generation of early music artists to study with our internationally renowned early music faculty. The presence of a small but talented cadre of Artist Diploma students will immeasurably increase our ability to stage a wide variety of baroque opera repertoire, thereby further enriching the experience of these young artists.”
Cornish’s early music program is overseen by acclaimed baroque opera music director and lutenist Stephen Stubbs and includes pianist and harpsichordist Byron Schenkman, harpsichordist Jillon Stoppels Dupree, violinists Ingrid Matthews and Tekla Cunninghman, flutist Janet See, harpist Maxine Eilander, viola da gambist Margriet Tindemans, recorder specialist Vicki Boeckman, baroque trumpet and cornetto virtuoso Kris Kwapis, baroque cellist Nathan Whittaker, coloratura soprano Cyndia Sieden, soprano Nancy Zylstra, and tenor Ross Hauck.
Artists interested in applying to the Artist Diploma in Early Music may find out more information at Cornish Early Music or by contacting the Music department. Audition recordings can be submitted online.
“The Artist Diploma in Early Music resonates with Cornish’s core values of promoting exploration across time, across cultures, and across disciplines,” adds Devereaux. “Some of the most successful new work in contemporary artistic practice today is occurring at these crossroads where artists such as William Kentridge, Andrei Serban, Robert Wilson, Peter Sellars, Diane Paulus, Mark Morris, Robert Carsen, and Robert Lepage are collaborating with the finest early music artists to produce exciting new stagings of baroque opera.”
The announcement of the new Artist Diploma in Early Music is only the latest expansion of the early music program at Cornish. In addition to offering undergraduate instruction in early music, Cornish, in partnership with Pacific MusicWorks, hosts the annual Accademia d’Amore summer workshop offering singers and instrumentalists eighteen and older an opportunity for intensive study in the musical and dramatic aspects of 17th century opera repertoire with a faculty of specialists in music, dance, and drama. The program has established an international reputation for training musicians in the art of 17th century vocal performance and instrumental accompaniment, with past workshop participants going on to successful careers in baroque opera in North America and Europe.
