Vocal Studies at Shorter College has a long-held tradition of excellence.  Building on the fifty-year tenure of the renowned John Ramsaur, Shorter College remains the premier vocal program in the Southeast. 

Boasting national MTNA winners and numerous winners of Regional NATS auditions, Shorter continues to produce award-winning singers.  For example, Indra Thomas (class of 1993) has been hailed as "the next great Verdi soprano" after highly lauded performances with the New York Philharmonic and the Metropolitan Opera.  In 2006, she made her Italian debut with the Teatro Carlo Felice in Genoa.  Phillip Dothard (class of 2003, national MTNA winner 2003) is currently an apprentice with the Lyric Opera of Chicago.  Jamie Barton (class of 2004) has been an apprentice with Opera Theatre of St. Louis as well as at the Tanglewood Music Festival.

Degree Programs

The Bachelor of Music in Vocal Performance is an intense program designed to train the well-rounded singer and musician.  The degree centers on private applied voice study culminating in a 25-minute junior recital and a 50-minute senior recital.  Students also study Diction, Song Literature, Opera Literature, and Vocal Pedagogy as well as Music Theory and Ear Training, Musicology, Piano, and Conducting. 

Leading roles in Shorter Opera Theatre productions serve as a primary training ground.  Students also have the opportunity to audition for the nationally-acclaimed Shorter Chorale (which tours internationally every three years) and musicals produced by the Shorter College Theatre Department, which have been recognized three times in the last four years at the Regional branch of the American College Theatre Festival.