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Attend AIMS in Graz
July 9 - August 19, 2012 Register for a live or recorded audition now. |
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AIMS 2011 Ends on a High Note
The preeminent artists giving Master Classes at AIMS 2011 were uniformly hailed as outstanding. Dramatic Soprano, Linda Watson, the 2011 Guest Artist-in-Residence, conducted a two-week voice clinic of master classes and private coaching. Ms. Watson, dubbed the leading Wagnerian soprano of our time, debuted at the Bayreuth Festival in 1998 as Kundry in Parsifal, where she continued as Ortrud in Lohengrin until 2005, assuming the role of Brünnhilde in the 2006 Ring. She performs at the major opera houses in Europe (Kundry, Isolde, Ortrud, Brünnhilde, Leonore, Färberin, Elektra, Ariadne, Marschallin) and also at the Met, Los Angeles, Washington National Opera and Seattle. Her Elektra debut under Christian Thielemann was released in January 2011 on DVD. See the Special Events page for biographies of the master class teachers. Christa Ludwig, the revered German mezzosoprano, presented a Master Class for professional and pre-professional singers that demonstrated her extraordinary understanding of the communication skills required of a performing artist, sensitivity to the emotions of the character, and the importance of German diction to conveying these emotions. Barbara Bonney, Soprano, and Bo Skovhus, Baritone, presented Master Classes that demostrated vocal techniques that uniformly brought postive change to the voices and the singers' interpretations of the music. Other master class teachers brought unique perspectives and inspired the singers with whom they worked. 
AIMS 31st Meistersinger Vocal Competition Finalists: First row: Elizabeth Brooks, Michelle Pretto, Siobhán Stagg, Eliana Piedrahita, Margaret Alyssa Manago, Ashley Reneé Watkins. Second Row: Patrick Michael Muehleise, Marco Antonio Lozano, Nelson Sierra and Brandon X. Williams. The 185 singers, pianists and orchestra members who participated in AIMS 2011 came from many continents - North America (USA, Puerto Rico, Canada and Mexico), South America (Colombia), Australia, and Europe. Many listeners described the quality of the performances in their concerts as exceeding all previous years. The five concerts presented with orchestra included the composers Wagner, Richard Strauss, Verdi, Ralph Vaughn Williams, Rossini, Bellini, Gounod, Prokofiev, Puccini and others. One concert featured French (Offenbach), American (Romberg) and Austrian (Stolz) operetta. In the final concert, The 31st AIMS Meistersinger Competition, ten finalists sang and the AIMS Festival Orchestra under conductor Edoardo Mueller performed Verdi's Overture to Alzira and Piston's The Incredible Flutist: Suite for Orchestra. Siobhán Stagg (Melbourne, Australia) won First Prize. Others who placed were Second Prize: Margaret Alyssa Manago, Soprano (Texas); Third Prize: Eliana Piedrahita, Soprano (Colombia); and Fourth Prize: Brandon X. Williams, Countertenor (South Carolina). Also announced at this concert was the winner of the Harold Heiberg Liedersänger Preis, Jessie Shulman, mezzosoprano (California). 
AIMS 31st Meistersinger Vocal Competition: Siobhán Stagg (Melbourne, Australia) won both First Prize and the Audience Favorite Award. 
At the final concert of AIMS 2011, Jessie Shulman (Long Beach, California) was named the Harold Heiberg Liedersänger Preis winner. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
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About AIMS
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AIMS, the leading European summer vocal program and the most
comprehensive course of its kind, brings future opera and concert performers together with an eminent faculty and the outstanding AIMS
Festival Orchestra in a one-of-a-kind experience. Dedicated to bridging the gap between musical training and a career in music,
AIMS In Graz concentrates on individual technical development and a professional approach to a career in music. The focus is on the serious
musician aspiring to a career in music. Many young artists who participated in AIMS have become celebrated performers on the world´s stages.
AIMS is an intensive training program in the study and performance of vocal music, both opera and German Lieder, as it relates to the singer
and collaborative pianist. Distinguished teachers from Europe and America with extensive teaching/performing experience make up the AIMS Faculty.
For the instrumentalist, the 70-member AIMS Festival Orchestra in Graz provides a unique experience with European conductors and the operatic and
symphonic repertoire.
 The six-week AIMS in Graz program
is held in the area that gave birth to the great traditions of middle European music-making. Graz, over 850 years old, is the capital of
the Austrian province of Steiermark (Styria). Its beautifully restored Old City, the largest in Europe, is an architectural treasure and is rated by
National Geographic as the fifth most reconmmended destination in the world. Styria
has a beautiful and varied landscape ranging from mountains for hiking to green hillsides and valleys for food and wine production.
Come explore them all!
The rich cultural tradition of Graz and Steiermark dates to the 14th century when Graz was the residence of
royalty and a trading center. That cultural tradition continues today through the opera house, drama theaters, excellent concert halls
and a creative concert calendar. This tradition provides a supportive atmosphere for study and for the concerts
that showcase AIMS artists.With more than 30 performance opportunities each summer, the AIMS Recital and Concert Series features opera and operetta concerts, 
song recitals and other musical programs in concert halls, castles, courtyards, churches and other venues.
The AIMS Festival in Graz, the Voices of Summer features operatic and symphonic works and culminates with the annual Meistersinger
Vocal Competition presented with full orchestra.No conservatory, university or other summer experience offers as much concentrated instruction in so short a period. Vocal Lessons, Opera and Lieder Coaching, Master Classes, Foreign Language Diction, Conversational German, Stagecraft, Repertoire and Career Guidance, Auditions for Agents and Presenters, professional career strategy, and numerous networking opportunities; AIMS in Graz offers these advantages and more. Attend AIMS in Graz to learn, to perform, to grow... as a musician and as a citizen of the world. This unique program in this beautiful setting is an experience that can be life changing!
More Information
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