Opera is a magical union of words and music and drama. Find out more. Contact Christine

Workshops

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Details of 2020 WORKSHOPS TBA

You’ll learn how to:
•    Find the best energy to perform and use breathing exercises to control nerves.
•    Connect with your music and lyrics in order to communicate a message to your audience
•    Create stage presence through body language, posture and gesture
•    Unpack negative beliefs about performance and replace them with a positive mindset
•    Mentally rehearse your visualisations of a successful and enjoyable performance
•    Enter and exit a stage with poise and presence.

Who is the course for?
•    HSC or university students preparing for exams
•    Competitors preparing for an eisteddfod
•    Concert and choir performers
•    Anyone auditioning for theatre, gigs and tertiary courses

Course format:
This Performance Workshop is an opportunity for technically-skilled singers to work individually with presenter Christine Douglas on performing a specific song. While conducted in a group setting, 10 singers will work one-on-one with Christine on set music they’re preparing for an exam, audition or competition. There are also openings for observers to attend the course. Observer participants will join in on group work conducted at the beginning of the workshop and then sit back to learn from the practical advice given to full participants.

Contact Christine

Audition Preparation

Walking into your audition, confident you are completely prepared and have done everything in your power to showcase your talent, is an empowering experience.
My audition preparation sessions focus on text analysis, context, character and spatial mapping, allowing you to create a world for the panel in the space of an aria.

1 x 60 min session – $120

3 x 60 min sessions – $330

Contact Christine

 I got it, I got the role! Thank you SO much for your valuable insights. I’m so excited! – S.M.

Dramatic Coaching

Whether you have undertaken private study or have graduated from a Tertiary Institution, it is likely that the percentage of time you have spent studying stagecraft is relatively small.
My stagecraft sessions for individuals focus on the development of spatial awareness, understanding Proxemics, body language, characterisation and establishing peripheral vision. As an emerging artist, you will be expected to arrive at your first job with these skills under your belt.

1 x 60 min session – $120

3 x 60 min sessions – $330

Contact Christine

You are my hero, you helped me and taught me how to perform joyfully- E.K.

Mentoring

Mentoring sessions are designed to support you, the emerging singer, as you grapple with the often confusing demands of entering the opera industry.
One on One 60 min sessions address industry expectations and can be tailored to produce 1, 2 & 5 year plans for your reference and guidance.

1 x 60 min session – $120

And in response to requests for multiple sessions:

3 x 60 min sessions – $330

Contact Christine

I would genuinely like to thank you for being my mentor the last 3 years. I started out as a complete beginner and now I have just sung my first title role

Singing Lessons

My singing lessons are for those who want a thorough grounding in classical technique.
Emphasis is placed on understanding the physiology of voice production, on mastering pure Italian vowels, on enhancing natural, reliable breath flow and singing with an open pharyngeal space. My own career as an operatic soprano who learnt about technique the hard way, gives me an empathetic understanding of young singers who are confused by various conflicting instructions they may have received over time.

$110 per 60 min lesson – Melbourne CBD

Pure Harmony Music Studio

Nicholas Building

Room 802, 8th Floor, 37 Swanston St, Melbourne, Vic, 3000

OR

$110 per 60 min lesson on Zoom

OR

$100 per 60 min lesson at Daylesford

Contact Christine

Christine, you’re such a perceptive teacher!  I am now much more aware of my vocal capability and how to access it. I have never felt so vocally free in my life. A true testament to a great teacher.

I really loved tonight as it was really informative and eye opening. I would love to work privately with you, on both interpretation of pieces as well as general presentation. I can’t help but notice the stage presence and aura some of the people you have worked with previously are renowned for.

An opera begins long before the curtain goes up and ends long after it has come down. It starts in my imagination, it becomes my life, and it stays part of my life long after I’ve left the opera house.
~ Maria Callas

Professional Training

Vocal and stage training for emerging opera singers. Tuneups for Indie & Pop singers and Actors for recordings/auditions/gigs.

Pulling a career together can be daunting for the young/emerging singer. You know you need more than a good voice but sometimes its just not clear what to focus on, or even what skills you lack!

Just like the pop music industry, opera managements are looking for the complete package. ‘Park and bark’ is no longer an option – if it ever really was….

Without an engaging stage presence, and stage smarts, an emerging singer is not competitive. If you want a job, there’s a suite of skills you need at your fingertips, as well as a beautiful voice and secure technique..

training

Contact Christine to find out more about her opera training opportunities . Book Now

Christine Douglas first worked as an Associate Director at The Opera Studio in 2013, on our 'Making a Scene' Project. Our company of singers were engaged and delighted by her energetic and positive approach to bringing their scenes to life in an imaginative and meaningful way. Christine's professional experience as a performer and director was evident in the confidence and skills she instilled in our Studio singers to be courageous, clear and committed in their story-telling.

L.T.
My horizon on humanity is enlarged by reading the writers of poems, seeing a painting, listening to some music, some opera, which has nothing at all to do with a volatile human condition or struggle or whatever. It enriches me as a human being
~ Wole Soyinka

All of us contain music and truth but most of us can’t get it out.
~ Mark Twain

I was emotionally and physically punched in the stomach. This is not a place where you go and deliver the lines and then you come back. It’s kind of a life-changing experience. But it can’t get better than this for any actor – this is like an opera
~ Javier Bardem