Song Lab

A novel approach to vocal studies, Song Lab focuses on the repertoire, interpretation and performance of art songs.

Through intertwined courses and guest lectures that enhance the creative process, students immerse themselves in the languages and histories of art song, develop their individual approaches, and learn to lead their own productions of song recitals on both traditional concert platforms and the digital stage.

Intellectually curious singers and collaborative pianists who seek a well-rounded approach and a chance to dive deep will find fertile ground for building exceptional musicianship, a personal artistic point of view, and a career of one’s own.

Song Lab is open by audition to NEC graduate singers in the DMA, MM, AD, and GD programs.

Performances

Hear students flex their performance and programming skills through performances. These performances are part of the Song Lab curriculum, and are available and open to the public.

Upcoming Concerts:

View More Vocal Arts Concerts

A Unique Curricular Approach

The Song Lab meets twice weekly for two hours and brings together various threads of knowledge and experience required for song performers, including language, lyric diction, poetry, history, analysis, collaboration, communication (writing and speaking), acting, concert program building, and marketing.

The full curriculum will consist of a sequence of four labs (four semesters). Each of the four semesters is distinguished by its focus on one language (German, English, French, and Others), providing the student with an immersive experience every semester by focusing on histories, repertoires, and styles associated with a single language.

Thus over the course of the four semesters, the student will delve deeply into the standard classical vocal repertoire and also have a wide range of other experiences, including collaboration with composers in creating new songs, experimentation with some non-classical musical styles, investigating songs in “non-standard” languages. Each semester also integrates study in concert program design, concert production and marketing, and public speaking.

This curriculum intends to develop well-rounded and fluent musicians who approach their work in the professional world with broad knowledge and wide-ranging abilities.

The lab provides core studies that work alongside and enhance other primary studies (i.e., opera, oratorio, chamber music, pedagogy).

Past Seasons

Song Lab 2022-2023

(focus on German Lieder and American Songs)

Led by Cameron Stowe and Tanya Blaich

With guest artist teachers including:

Singers Dawn Upshaw, Oral Moses, Randall Scarlata
Scholars Susan Youens, Benjamin Binder, Helen Greenwald, Deborah Stein, Sharon Krebs
Composers John Harbison, Michael Gandolfi

Song Recital Themes:

Goethe Settings
Wolf’s Mörike Lieder
Violet City: Queer Life in New York 1920-2020
African American Songs and Spirituals
Russian Songs
Women Composers and Poets
New Songs by NEC Student Composers
Community Recital Project

Song Lab 2021-2023

(focus on French and Spanish-language songs, with additional projects in Jazz/Musical Theater repertoire and extended techniques)

Led by Cameron Stowe, Tanya Blaich, JJ Penna, and Chelsea Whitaker

With guest artist teachers including:

Singers Julia Bullock, Dominique Eade
Pianists Pierre Vallet, Margo Garrett, Jorge Robaina, Teresa Rodriguez
Guitarist Juanito Pascual
Scholars Brandon Ruud, Helen Greenwald, Deborah Stein

Song Recital Themes:

Shadows in the Garden: The Musical Legacy of Paul Verlaine
Exilers: Composers anod Poets Set Adrift
The Ungifted Sex: Pioneer Women Composers of Song in the 19th Century
Spanish and Latin American Songs
Russian and Czech Songs

Other guests have included:

Singers Thomas Hampson, Darryl Taylor
Pianist Graham Johnson
Scholars Ivy Schweitzer

Sample Semester Curriculum: German

WEEK 1

MONDAY: Introduction to Song Lab with Tanya Blaich and Cameron Stowe
TUESDAY: Lecture with literary scholar Judith Ryan: Listening for the Voice of Nature

Week 2

MONDAY: Lecture with musicologist Benjamin Binder: Schubert and the Biedermeier
TUESDAY: Lecture with theorist Deborah Stein: Schubert’s Lieder: Analysis and Performance

Weeks 3 – 6

MONDAY: Diction Class
TUESDAY: Performance Class, including oral reports, coaching sessions, bibliographies, and written reports for each song performed in class.

Week 7

MONDAY: Lecture with musicologist Benjamin Binder: Interpreting Heine’s Poetry: Tone, Ambiguity, and Cultural Critique
TUESDAY: Performance Class

Week 8

MONDAY: Program Note Writing Workshop with Helen Greenwald. Following this lecture, students will schedule individual appointments to discuss plans for the final writing assignment.
TUESDAY: Diction Class

WEEK 9 - 11

MONDAY: Diction Class
TUESDAY: Performance Class

Week 12

MONDAY: Diction Class. Prepare assigned poems for in-class recitations; Students will be asked to support their expressive choices by presenting an in-depth poetic analysis, reflecting skills learned over the course of the semester.
TUESDAY: Text Translation Workshop. Students will begin work on their final text translation assignment.

Week 13

MONDAY and TUESDAY: Diction Class. Prepare assigned poems and listen to assigned recordings of musical performances and poetry recitations. Text recitations and exercises in expressive techniques.

Week 14

MONDAY: Diction Final Exam, with written and oral components. Students will be asked to recite a German poem by memory for the class and will be evaluated on clarity of diction and expressive nuance.
TUESDAY: Students will give short oral presentations summarizing their program note writing assignment. Final Draft of Program Note Writing and Text Translation Assignments due.

Support Song Lab

Song Lab is an academic initiative supported by NEC's Catalyst Fund. To learn more and find out ways to make a gift, click here >