Thank you for your interest in the 2025 WNO Institute!
The WNO Opera Institute is a summer training program for high school singers interested in vocal performance and Citizen Artistry, and exploring all that opera has to offer as a career. Students will develop their skills as performers while exploring how to use their full array of talents to build a life for themselves, a better field, and a better world. We are seeking future change-makers in the field of opera. Our program uses improvisation and critical inquiry to build skills in vocal and theatrical performance, Citizen Artistry, and the agency needed for singers to direct their own career paths and effectively express their own ideas.
Who We Are Looking For
We are looking for:
- A demonstrated ability for healthy, consistent, and resonant singing
- Applicants who wish to leverage art in and for community
As well as:
- Applicants who seek to inspire, connect, and enrich their communities through art
- An interest, and possibly experience, in community-focused endeavors (such as caretaking, income-earning, fundraising, organizing, forms of advocacy and representation, etc.)
- An interest in presenting standard repertory along with new and infrequently performed works.
- In addition to vocal technique, a strong interest in exploring the relevant skills of improvisation, movement, expressive use of body language, developing and expressing autonomous ideas, entrepreneurship, collaboration, and more that are critical for success (for more context on the many skills required for successful professionals in opera, see Opera America's Essential Skills and Training for Classical Singers)
About the 2025 Institute
The 2025 program will include:
- Vocal Training: Voice lessons, coachings, and master classes
- Improvisation: Theatrical, musical, and movement
- Theatrical Training: Instruction in fundamental aspects of acting and theater
- Repertoire: The opportunity to explore varied and diverse repertoire appropriate for teenaged voices. Students may be assigned music anywhere from the Baroque to the modern period, up to and including work by living composers.
- Citizen Artistry: Exploring the connections between one’s art, values, and communities
- College and Career Skills: Practical information sessions on auditions, college applications, and navigating the professional world
- Student-Driven Performances: Our students understand that they must create the change—and the art—they want to see in the world. With an understanding that successful 21st-Century artists use a broad toolbox of skills as collaborators, contributors, and producers of their own creative projects, students will co-create unique performances with guidance from Institute faculty
General Information
2025 Program Dates: July 21-August 9, 2025
Application Deadline: NEW! Extended to January 28, 2025
Application Requirements
- Audition videos (see details below)
- Online application form
- Improv & Movement Exercises (see details below)
- Contact information for one reference
- Résumé (optional)
- $25 application fee*
*Contact us if you need to request a fee waiver due to financial circumstances. We will be glad to work with you.
Program Fees:
Tuition: $1,800
Housing (optional): $1,200
Housing
Students utilizing housing will be housed in a triple occupancy hotel room with 2 beds and a fold-out couch. Students will be responsible for their own meals, which they may prepare in their in-room kitchenette. Meals are also available for purchase at the Kennedy Center canteen.
Housing is located within a convenient 15-minute walk from the Center. The Kennedy Center shuttle stop is also available by the Foggy Bottom Metro stop and runs on a 15-minute rotation schedule.
Opera institute students will be supervised by college-aged Resident Assistants who will be staying in the same hotel.
You have the option to commute if you live within a convenient distance to the Center, or you may provide your own housing, if you choose to do so, at your own expense.
Financial Aid
WNO Opera Institute understands that the cost of training can be difficult for low- and middle-income families. WNO and the Kennedy Center are committed to working with students and families to make high-level music education affordable for all, regardless of their financial situation.
If the above cost is prohibitive, please indicate your interest in financial assistance in your application. Financial need is not considered when reviewing applications, and the review panel does not know which students have requested financial assistance.
Scholarships, fee waivers, and other support are available to any student accepted to our program. We will be glad to work with you on an individual basis. Contact operainstitute@kennedy-center.org with questions.
Audition Information
Students eligible to audition should be in grades 9-12 in the 2024-2025 school year, currently engaged in vocal study, and interested in both continuing studying voice in college and in Citizen Artistry. (Students graduating high school in 2025 are welcome to apply). Please see the "who we are looking for" section for information to help create your strongest application.
Past participants who are still in high school in the 2024-2025 school year are welcome to apply.
Audition Requirements
Repertoire: Two selections
- Selection 1: An art song in any language. Choose a song that shows your voice at its best. This selection should be memorized and performed with piano accompaniment (live or using a recorded track).
- Selection 2: A song that tells us something about who you are or what is important to you. This song can be a second art song or a piece from any other genre (musical theater, pop styles, gospel, folk songs, your own composition, etc.). If possible, please perform with accompaniment (live or a recorded track). You will be asked to include a few sentences about why you chose this selection as part of your application.
Video Submission Requirements
Videos should be submitted as unlisted YouTube links. You may submit one video with both selections or two separate videos. Please announce your name and the title and composer of your selection at the beginning of your video, if possible.
Plan ahead whenever possible! Use our video audition tips for assistance.
Resources
We want all applicants to be able to create strong materials, now and for future auditions. Please see the resources below, and reach out to operainstitute@kennedy-center.org with questions.
Video auditions: Please see our list of tips for creating a strong video audition here.
Repertoire and more: We encourage students to consider repertoire from living composers as well as historically excluded or underrepresented composers and authors. Please see our list of resources for repertoire and more list of resources for repertoire and more here.
Please contact us if you are interested in applying but may have difficulty in meeting these requirements.
Improv and Movement Exercises
We are building well-rounded artists for the future--artists who will have a strong set of skills as needed for the ever-changing world of opera, and artists who will be able to work in expansive ways across disciplines. As such, our program emphasizes skills beyond vocal performance as integral and necessary for performances. We do not expect students to have a strong level of skill in the areas below, but we are looking for students who are excited about exploring the many interrelated aspects of opera performance and related art forms.
Improv Exercise
Theatrical and musical improvisation are core components of the WNO Institute. We are not expecting students to be skilled in improvising (yet!), but we are looking for students who are willing to play, to fail, to step outside the box, and to develop multiple aspects of their creativity.
Students will be asked to respond to the following exercise:
Improvise a vocal line over a given accompaniment.
Accepted students will be asked to submit additional improvisation exercises as part of the onboarding process.
Movement Exercise
Students should submit a video of themselves using movement in an expressive way, whether through dance or otherwise. This can be done with or without music. Videos should be 30-60 seconds long.
We are not expecting students to be skilled in movement (yet!), but we are looking for students who understand the importance of movement in opera performance.
Accessibility
The Kennedy Center welcomes all applicants.
If you have questions about accessibility or accommodations, you may contact the Office of Accessibility directly at (202) 416-8727 (voice) or access@kennedy-center.org
Additional Opportunities
The Kennedy Center offers a range of career development programs for aspiring artists. Learn more about each of the programs by clicking on the links below:
VSA International Young Musicians Competition: For musicians with disabilities ages 14-25, including soloists and ensembles in any musical genre
Betty Carter's Jazz Ahead: Open to jazz artist-composers in their mid-teens to early 20s
National Symphony Orchestra Summer Music Institute: Open to orchestral musicians ages 15-20
Kennedy Center Dance Lab: Open to high school dancers entering grades 9-12 in the 2024-2025 school year
WNO Opera Institute 2025
Thank you for your interest in the 2025 WNO Institute!
The WNO Opera Institute is a summer training program for high school singers interested in vocal performance and Citizen Artistry, and exploring all that opera has to offer as a career. Students will develop their skills as performers while exploring how to use their full array of talents to build a life for themselves, a better field, and a better world. We are seeking future change-makers in the field of opera. Our program uses improvisation and critical inquiry to build skills in vocal and theatrical performance, Citizen Artistry, and the agency needed for singers to direct their own career paths and effectively express their own ideas.
Who We Are Looking For
We are looking for:
- A demonstrated ability for healthy, consistent, and resonant singing
- Applicants who wish to leverage art in and for community
As well as:
- Applicants who seek to inspire, connect, and enrich their communities through art
- An interest, and possibly experience, in community-focused endeavors (such as caretaking, income-earning, fundraising, organizing, forms of advocacy and representation, etc.)
- An interest in presenting standard repertory along with new and infrequently performed works.
- In addition to vocal technique, a strong interest in exploring the relevant skills of improvisation, movement, expressive use of body language, developing and expressing autonomous ideas, entrepreneurship, collaboration, and more that are critical for success (for more context on the many skills required for successful professionals in opera, see Opera America's Essential Skills and Training for Classical Singers)
About the 2025 Institute
The 2025 program will include:
- Vocal Training: Voice lessons, coachings, and master classes
- Improvisation: Theatrical, musical, and movement
- Theatrical Training: Instruction in fundamental aspects of acting and theater
- Repertoire: The opportunity to explore varied and diverse repertoire appropriate for teenaged voices. Students may be assigned music anywhere from the Baroque to the modern period, up to and including work by living composers.
- Citizen Artistry: Exploring the connections between one’s art, values, and communities
- College and Career Skills: Practical information sessions on auditions, college applications, and navigating the professional world
- Student-Driven Performances: Our students understand that they must create the change—and the art—they want to see in the world. With an understanding that successful 21st-Century artists use a broad toolbox of skills as collaborators, contributors, and producers of their own creative projects, students will co-create unique performances with guidance from Institute faculty
General Information
2025 Program Dates: July 21-August 9, 2025
Application Deadline: NEW! Extended to January 28, 2025
Application Requirements
- Audition videos (see details below)
- Online application form
- Improv & Movement Exercises (see details below)
- Contact information for one reference
- Résumé (optional)
- $25 application fee*
*Contact us if you need to request a fee waiver due to financial circumstances. We will be glad to work with you.
Program Fees:
Tuition: $1,800
Housing (optional): $1,200
Housing
Students utilizing housing will be housed in a triple occupancy hotel room with 2 beds and a fold-out couch. Students will be responsible for their own meals, which they may prepare in their in-room kitchenette. Meals are also available for purchase at the Kennedy Center canteen.
Housing is located within a convenient 15-minute walk from the Center. The Kennedy Center shuttle stop is also available by the Foggy Bottom Metro stop and runs on a 15-minute rotation schedule.
Opera institute students will be supervised by college-aged Resident Assistants who will be staying in the same hotel.
You have the option to commute if you live within a convenient distance to the Center, or you may provide your own housing, if you choose to do so, at your own expense.
Financial Aid
WNO Opera Institute understands that the cost of training can be difficult for low- and middle-income families. WNO and the Kennedy Center are committed to working with students and families to make high-level music education affordable for all, regardless of their financial situation.
If the above cost is prohibitive, please indicate your interest in financial assistance in your application. Financial need is not considered when reviewing applications, and the review panel does not know which students have requested financial assistance.
Scholarships, fee waivers, and other support are available to any student accepted to our program. We will be glad to work with you on an individual basis. Contact operainstitute@kennedy-center.org with questions.
Audition Information
Students eligible to audition should be in grades 9-12 in the 2024-2025 school year, currently engaged in vocal study, and interested in both continuing studying voice in college and in Citizen Artistry. (Students graduating high school in 2025 are welcome to apply). Please see the "who we are looking for" section for information to help create your strongest application.
Past participants who are still in high school in the 2024-2025 school year are welcome to apply.
Audition Requirements
Repertoire: Two selections
- Selection 1: An art song in any language. Choose a song that shows your voice at its best. This selection should be memorized and performed with piano accompaniment (live or using a recorded track).
- Selection 2: A song that tells us something about who you are or what is important to you. This song can be a second art song or a piece from any other genre (musical theater, pop styles, gospel, folk songs, your own composition, etc.). If possible, please perform with accompaniment (live or a recorded track). You will be asked to include a few sentences about why you chose this selection as part of your application.
Video Submission Requirements
Videos should be submitted as unlisted YouTube links. You may submit one video with both selections or two separate videos. Please announce your name and the title and composer of your selection at the beginning of your video, if possible.
Plan ahead whenever possible! Use our video audition tips for assistance.
Resources
We want all applicants to be able to create strong materials, now and for future auditions. Please see the resources below, and reach out to operainstitute@kennedy-center.org with questions.
Video auditions: Please see our list of tips for creating a strong video audition here.
Repertoire and more: We encourage students to consider repertoire from living composers as well as historically excluded or underrepresented composers and authors. Please see our list of resources for repertoire and more list of resources for repertoire and more here.
Please contact us if you are interested in applying but may have difficulty in meeting these requirements.
Improv and Movement Exercises
We are building well-rounded artists for the future--artists who will have a strong set of skills as needed for the ever-changing world of opera, and artists who will be able to work in expansive ways across disciplines. As such, our program emphasizes skills beyond vocal performance as integral and necessary for performances. We do not expect students to have a strong level of skill in the areas below, but we are looking for students who are excited about exploring the many interrelated aspects of opera performance and related art forms.
Improv Exercise
Theatrical and musical improvisation are core components of the WNO Institute. We are not expecting students to be skilled in improvising (yet!), but we are looking for students who are willing to play, to fail, to step outside the box, and to develop multiple aspects of their creativity.
Students will be asked to respond to the following exercise:
Improvise a vocal line over a given accompaniment.
Accepted students will be asked to submit additional improvisation exercises as part of the onboarding process.
Movement Exercise
Students should submit a video of themselves using movement in an expressive way, whether through dance or otherwise. This can be done with or without music. Videos should be 30-60 seconds long.
We are not expecting students to be skilled in movement (yet!), but we are looking for students who understand the importance of movement in opera performance.
Accessibility
The Kennedy Center welcomes all applicants.
If you have questions about accessibility or accommodations, you may contact the Office of Accessibility directly at (202) 416-8727 (voice) or access@kennedy-center.org
Additional Opportunities
The Kennedy Center offers a range of career development programs for aspiring artists. Learn more about each of the programs by clicking on the links below:
VSA International Young Musicians Competition: For musicians with disabilities ages 14-25, including soloists and ensembles in any musical genre
Betty Carter's Jazz Ahead: Open to jazz artist-composers in their mid-teens to early 20s
National Symphony Orchestra Summer Music Institute: Open to orchestral musicians ages 15-20
Kennedy Center Dance Lab: Open to high school dancers entering grades 9-12 in the 2024-2025 school year