World-renowned opera singer Dawn Upshaw will give a master class at Vassar College next week, the Hudson Valley Reporter reported.
The class, which will take place at 4 p.m. on Dec. 9 in the Mary Anna Fox Martel Recital Hall in Skinner Hall, will give eight voice students the opportunity to work under the "tutelage of one of the world's greatest opera singers."
"We are incredibly excited to have Dawn Upshaw here at Vassar for a master class," Christine Howlett, director of choral activities told the Hudson Valley Reporter. "There is so much to learn from watching an artist of this caliber work with eager, talented and hardworking students. I'm absolutely thrilled that she has agreed to come and work with our students."
For the master class next week, eight students will work with the Grammy-nominated opera singer on pieces they have prepared.
Upshaw has received many accolades for her contributions to opera. She is the recipient of the 2012 Opera News Awards recognizing her achievement in opera; she is also a fellow of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences.
She has received honorary doctorates from Yale University, Manhattan School of Music, Illinois Wesleyan University and Allegheny College.
Upshaw is also the first vocalist to receive the genius prize when she was named a fellow of the MacArthur Foundation in 2007.
Her operatic performances range from works of Handel and Mozart to Stravinsky, Debussy, Poulenc and Messiaen, but she is most known for her recitals, featuring unusual contemporary pieces as well as folk songs, show tunes, and her classical repertoire, according to the Hudson Valley Reporter.
Upshaw is currently the artistic director of the vocal arts program at the Bard College Conservatory of Music and serves on the faculty of the Tangelwood Music Center. She is also a recording artist for Nonesuch Records and has won four Grammy Awards.
Her recording of "Henryk Górecki's Symphony No. 3" has sold over a million copies around the world.
