What is the structure of the Young Artists' Programme? Expand The NOS runs a nine-month full-time Young Artists' Programme which begins in September each year. The Programme is open to singers and répétiteurs. All Young Artists benefit from: intensive one-to-one coaching; close links with the six main UK opera companies who monitor your progress; a strong emphasis on ensemble work; regular acting and movement sessions; professional coaches drawn from British and European opera houses; individual coaching in Italian, French and German; sessions on professional resilience; and much more. Please see the Programme page for more details.
Can anyone apply? Expand Yes. The application process is completely open to those aged 18 and above. There is no upper age restriction for applying to the NOS. However, applicants are reminded that the Young Artists' Programme is very intensive and is intended to benefit extremely gifted singers and répétiteurs who are at the beginning of their careers in opera.
How many places are there? Expand We can accept a maximum of 12 singers and 4 répétiteurs onto the Young Artists' Programme each year.
Do applicants need permission to work in the UK to apply? Expand There is no obligation to have permission to work in the UK in order to apply to the NOS. However, if you do not hold a valid UK or EU passport, you will need a visa to enter the UK and to take up your place at the NOS. See our Visa page for further information.
What are the Final Round Working Sessions? Expand If you have been successful in your First Round audition, you will be invited to attend a Final Round Working Session on either Saturday 16 February or Sunday 17 February. The Final Round Working Sessions will give you the opportunity to meet members of our core coaching team and prepare for your Final Round audition in an informal and constructive way. The session will also be an opportunity for us to get to know you and will help us assess how a place at the NOS could benefit you and your career. Each working session will last approximately 30 minutes.
Will I need to pay an audition fee? Expand Yes. There is a fee of £80 which must be paid as part of your application. This fee covers all rounds of the auditions. Should you be invited to the Final Round of auditions, there will be no further costs. The fee also includes your audition accompanist.
Why do you charge a fee? Expand The National Opera Studio is a non-profit organisation and a registered charity (charity number 274755). The NOS provides a highly-qualified and experienced accompanist for all auditions, and this is included in the fee.
How do I get on to the YAP Tracker website? Expand A link will be published on the applications page when applications open on Monday 01 October 2018.
Do I need a YAP Tracker membership to apply? Expand You do not need to pay for a YAP Tracker membership in order to apply to the NOS. Free 'guest' memberships are available on YAP Tracker for those who only wish to have access to the NOS application form. You can use your free 'guest' membership account to apply to the NOS, but you will not have access to listings / opportunities from other companies on YAP Tracker. When you sign up for the free 'guest' membership, you will be given a username and password to use every time you want to look at the status of your NOS application. Follow this link to get started: www.yaptracker.com/register-applicant
How do I complete my YAP Tracker application? Expand Once you have registered on YAP Tracker, you can log in and view the NOS online application form. You then need to enter all the information you can provide into the form. The form also asks you to upload a headshot. At the bottom of the form, we ask for your debit/credit card information for the £80 fee (which will be taken from your card when you submit the online form). When you are sure everything is correct, click submit. After this, you will need to log back in to YAP Tracker regularly to check whether your referees have submitted their references.
What do I do if I have technical problems using YAP Tracker? Expand If you have problems uploading any part of your application or have other technical issues with YAP Tracker, please contact the YAP Tracker help team on [email protected]. We recommend that you give yourself plenty of time to submit your application before the deadline, just in case you experience technical difficulties.
Can I send my CV to the NOS? Expand Please don’t send additional materials such as CVs to the NOS. You will be able to give us all the information we need and upload your headshot in your YAP Tracker application. Additional materials will not be given to the panel.
Who should write my references? Expand References should be written by music or theatre professionals (for example: directors, agents, established singers, accompanists, heads of departments), but not your current singing teacher or any previous singing teachers.
How are the references submitted? Expand When completing the application form on YAP Tracker, you will need to provide the names and contact details of two referees who have agreed to provide a reference for you. When you submit your form, the YAP Tracker website will automatically send an email to each referee, asking them to upload a reference directly onto the YAP Tracker website. Please bear in mind when selecting your referees that references cannot be accepted in any other way.
What information should references contain? Expand References must be written specifically for your application to the NOS. They should ideally refer to the following: how the referee knows you and how long they have known you their opinion on your: career potential stage presence musicality command of languages reliability learning speed working relationships with colleagues.
How long do references need to be? Expand There is no word limit for references. However, as we receive so many applications, it helps if references are concise and relevant.
What language should references be in? Expand Where possible, references should be written in English. However, references in German, French, Italian or Russian will also be accepted.
When is the deadline for submitting references? Expand The deadline for your referees to submit a reference for you is Thursday 10 January 2019 at 11:59pm. It is your responsibility to make sure that your referee has received the reference request and knows how to submit a reference. Make sure to remind them in plenty of time.
How do I book my audition slot? Expand If you are based in the UK or within the EEA, you will be given access to the NOS audition timetable on YAP Tracker shortly after you have submitted your application. Here, you will be able to pick one audition slot. Audition slots are given on a first-come, first-served basis, so we advise you to apply as early as you can, especially if you have limited availability during our First Round auditions period.
Can I change my audition date and time? Expand If you need to reschedule your First Round audition, you can do so by choosing any other available audition slot on YAP Tracker up until 11:59pm on Thursday 10 January 2018, at which point all audition times will be fixed. After this date, if you need to reschedule, please email [email protected]. If it is possible to accommodate your request, we will aim to do so at no extra cost to you. If it is impossible for us to reschedule your audition to a time that works for you, you must either keep your original time or cancel.
Will I have a live audition or do I need to submit a recording? Expand Everyone who applies from within the UK or EEA will have a live First Round audition. If you are applying from outside of the EEA, you have the option of sending a pre-screening audition video. The deadline for submitting this is Friday 05 January 2019 at 11.59pm. We will let you know the result of this pre-screening audition on Tuesday 15 January 2019, giving you one month to organise your travel for the Live Audition, if successful.
I’m applying from outside of the EEA: how do I send a pre-screening audition video? Expand If you are applying from outside of the EEA, you should tick the box on your YAP Tracker application form to let us know that you are applying from outside of the EEA and that you would like to submit a pre-screening audition video. The reason we make this option available is so that you can get an indication of whether it would be in your interests to attend the Live Audition, before booking long-haul flights and organising visas. If your video pre-screening audition is successful, you will be invited to attend a Live Audition in person at the National Opera Studio. This Live Audition will take place on Friday 15 February 2018 (three days before the Final Round of auditions). After your Live Audition, you may or may not be given a place in the Final Round of auditions, which take place on Monday 18 February and Tuesday 19 February. This means that you are potentially able to attend both rounds in one visit to the UK. Your video must adhere to the following requirements: You should record three arias, of which; all should be opera (no song or oratorio); at least two languages should be represented; at least one should be in English; at least one should come from a contemporary opera (post-1980). You may, if you wish, submit additional arias (up to a maximum of five audition pieces). You are welcome to submit a post-1980 English aria. Each aria should be recorded in a single take; each take should be recorded within the same recording session. Recordings must be made entirely live, with live accompaniment (no pre-recorded backing tracks). The video recording may be submitted in any of the following file formats: AVI (Audio Video Interleave) FLV (Flash Video Format) WMV (Windows Media Video) MOV (Apple QuickTime Movie) MP4 or MPEG-4 (Moving Pictures Expert Group 4) The recordings must not have any audio editing (including but not limited to reverb, equalisation or auto-tuning). We do not stipulate any minimum requirements for the quality of the video recording, however the panel should be able to see and hear you clearly. Each recording file size must be less than 2gb. The recordings must be submitted via wetransfer.com to [email protected] before 11.59pm on Friday 04 January 2018.
Where do auditions take place? Expand All rounds of auditions take place in the National Opera Studio's Blackburn Hall: National Opera StudioThe Clore Building2 Chapel YardWandsworth High St.LondonSW18 4HZ
Who will be on the audition panel? Expand The First Round panel will be made up of the NOS' Director of Artist Development, the NOS' Head of Music, and at least one member of the artistic staff of one of our six partner opera companies on each day. The panel will consist of a minimum of three people. The Final Round panel will be made up of the NOS Artistic Team and representatives from each of our six partner opera companies: English National Opera, Glyndebourne, Opera North, the Royal Opera House, Scottish Opera and Welsh National Opera. The panel will consist of a minimum of nine people.
What repertoire do I need to prepare for the audition? Expand For each round, you must bring at least three audition pieces, of which: all should be opera (no song or oratorio) at least two languages should be represented at least one should be in English at least one should be from a contemporary opera (post-1980) You may, if you wish, bring additional arias (up to a maximum of five audition pieces) from which the panel may choose. You are welcome to bring a post-1980 English aria. The panel may stop you during the performance of a particularly long aria so that they can hear another audition piece. Approximately one month before your audition, you will be contacted by the auditions administrator to see if you are bringing any unusual or ‘non-mainstream’ repertoire to your audition. This will be your opportunity to send a copy of this repertoire, to be passed on to the audition accompanist.
Can I sing the same repertoire in both rounds of auditions? Expand Yes. If you are invited to a Final Round audition you may, if you wish, bring the same arias as the ones you brought to your First Round audition. Remember, most of the Final Round audition panel will not have been present at your First Round audition.
Who will accompany the audition? Expand The NOS will provide a highly qualified and experienced accompanist for all auditions. You will not be able to bring your own pianist for your audition or for your warm-up time. This is for the sake of consistency and to serve all applicants to the best of our ability, equally and without prejudice. There will be no opportunity to rehearse with the audition accompanist. Please make sure you have a copy of all of your audition music prepared for the accompanist before you arrive at the NOS.
Can I bring my own accompanist? Expand You will not be able to bring your own accompanist for your audition or for your warm-up time. The NOS will provide a highly qualified and experienced accompanist for all auditions.
Can I bring my teacher, agent, family member or friend? Expand Please do not bring anybody with you to your audition. The audition days are very busy and there is no space for anyone to sit and wait for you while you audition. If someone is travelling with you, please ask them to wait in one of the many nice cafés nearby! Under no circumstances will anyone be allowed into the warm-up room or the audition with you.
What do I wear to the audition? Expand Please dress comfortably for your audition. Evening concert wear is not required. Women are advised to wear smart day dresses or trousers with tops, and men - suits with open-necked shirts. Ties are not necessary. Please bear in mind that what you wear has an impact on the panel’s decision-making, so choose audition clothing that makes you feel good and which does not detract from your performance.