Chicago College of Performing Arts (CCPA) and Chicago Opera Theater (COT) offer a two-year Professional Diploma program, pairing advanced education with full scholarship support at CCPA and professional experience at COT.

Students selected for the Professional Diploma in Opera receive full scholarships from the college, plus a weekly stipend from COT during spring residency semesters. The program is primarily designed for post-graduate students specializing in opera, but may include some post-undergraduate students of exceptional ability.

In the fall semester, students take courses to fill gaps in their professional training (such as Italian diction, stage combat, acting, and movement). Classes are chosen based on the student's past experience and education. The program also includes four semesters of individual voice lessons with CCPA's professional faculty, including Metropolitan Opera and Lyric Opera of Chicago artists Richard Stilwell, Judith Haddon, David Holloway, Michael Best, and Tracy Watson.

Students then spend the spring semester as apprentice artists at Chicago Opera Theater, where they will cover lead roles in the current season, sing in the chorus for mainstage productions, participate in apprentice performances of each opera with piano, and give special recitals and concerts with orchestra throughout the season.

Application Procedure
All applicants (including current CCPA students) must submit the CCPA Application and pre-screening recording by December 1. The recording should include three pieces in contrasting styles.

Selected applicants will be invited to audition in February. Those students should prepare (from memory): Five pieces representing at least four stylistic periods, including at least one aria and at least one art song. Repertoire must include works in English, French, German, and Italian. Please bring several copies of your repertoire list for the audition panel.

Invitations for auditions in February will be sent by early January. Please contact music@roosevelt.edu with questions. (Click here to see audition requirements.)

Note: A Master of Music Degree in Voice is preferred for entrance to this program. A Bachelor of Music Degree in Voice is required for entrance into this Diploma program.


Chicago Opera Theater
Founded in 1974 by Alan Stone, Chicago Opera Theater has carved a significant place for itself in the operatic life of Chicago and has reached an audience of hundreds of thousands through its main stage performances, outreach, education and young artist programs. With its innovative productions, COT has helped launch the opera careers of singers and directors such as Robert Orth, Nancy Gustafson, Richard Leech, Mary Zimmerman, and Frank Galati, who now work with opera and theater companies around the world. In 1999, COT appointed Brian Dickie as General Director. Mr. Dickie came to Chicago Opera Theater with more than thirty years of experience in the opera field, including five years as General Director of the Canadian Opera Company and seven years as General Director of the world-renowned Glyndebourne Festival Opera in England. The 2004 season opener, L’incoronazione di Poppea, marked COT’s debut performance in the 1,400-seat Harris Theater for Music and Dance in Chicago’s Millennium Park.

The Young Artist Program at Chicago Opera Theater was established in 2000 to develop young artists by providing a performance-based training program to talented singers at the beginning of their careers. Young artists are chosen by auditions held throughout the U.S. In addition to being members of the company, taking on small roles, understudies and ensemble work in COT’s mainstage productions, Young Artists participate in masterclasses, community outreach, and have the opportunity to prepare and perform a recital program. Distinguished accompanist and coach Craig Rutenberg is an annual guest and undertakes detailed work on the song repertoire with each Young Artist. In 2006, Susanne Mentzer, COT’s star of Dido and Aeneas, presented master classes with COT’s Young Artists.

For more information about Chicago Opera Theater, visit: www.chicagooperatheater.org