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Thursday - January 7
8:00-9:00   Registration (NATS)                                                  
8:45-10:00 Workshop session (NOA)                                       
9:00-10:30 To Swing or Not to Swing: Rhythmic Alteration from the 17th to Early 19th Century (Martha Elliott) (NATS)
This session will present an overview of the development of the practice of rhythmic alteration. We will look at inegalité in French Baroque music, see how it was transplanted and adapted as double dotting or over dotting in Bach and Handel, observe its evolution in the Classical period, and discuss its use in early 19th- century Lieder.  Participants will learn to identify rhythms that should or can be altered in places they might not have imagined.    
10:00-10:45 Workshop session (NOA)             
11:00-12:45 Opening Ceremonies and Luncheon
Keynote Speaker - Donald Runnicles, Assistant Conductor, Atlanta Symphony Orchestra
Donald Runnicles, Music Director and Principal Conductor of the San Francisco Opera since 1992, is also Music Director of the Grand Teton Music Festival.  As Principal Guest Conductor of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, he has made a series of superior recordings for Telarc. In 2009 he will become General Music Director of the Deutsche Oper Berlin and Chief Conductor of the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra.
 
1:00-2:30 Todd Duncan Century Fund Legacy Session (NOA)                
1:00-2:30 Master Class (NOA)
3:00-4:20 H.O.W. Seminar for New Opera Director (NOA)
3:15-4:45 Problems of the Young Singer (Thomas Murry) (NATS) - Young singers are often required to sing for many hours during a normal week—solo rehearsals, choir, acting roles, and auditions. How can young singers manage these and other problems?
4:30-5:45 Workshop session (NOA)                                                                                         
7:30 Georgia State University Collegiate Scenes Competition
9:30-10:30 Opening Reception

Friday - January 8
8:00-9:00 Registration (NATS)
 
9:00-10:15 Medications and the Singer (Thomas Murry) (NATS) - How does the sickness affect the voice? What medications help the sick singer's voice and what medications can lead to additional danger? What medications are recommended for back pain, joint pain, and other health problems?
 
10:15-10:45 break
 
10:45-12:00 Scholarly Papers (NOA)
10:45-12:00 Voice Analysis 101: Understanding the Signals (Scott McCoy) (NATS) - Attendees will understand the basic principles involved in reading spectrograms, power spectra, and other fundamental forms of acoustic voice analysis and assessment.
 
12:00-1:30 Lunch
 
1:15-2:00 NOA Annual Business Meeting (NOA)
 
1:30-2:45 Ornamenting Arias: Cadenzas, Decorations and Flourishes from Monteverdi to Rossini (Martha Elliott) (NATS) - This session will present an overview of ornamentation in Italian arias from the 17th to early 19th centuries. Attendees will study small graces—trillos and trills, gruppos and turns, appoggiaturas and grace notes—as well as composing and/or improvising variations on passaggi and fioratura. In this session, Ms. Elliott will discuss the development of the cadenza and appropriate gestures for the music of Monteverdi, Handel, Mozart, Rossini, and others. Participants will see how the beginnings of the florid style found in Ulysses reached its logical climax in the Barber of Seville.
 
2:00-3:15 Lyrica Society for Word-Music Relations (NOA) - Winning Collegiate Opera Workshop Finalists
 
2:45-3:15 break

3:15-5:15 The Un-Master Class (William Westney) (NATS) - A refreshing complement to traditional Master-Classes, the Un-Master Class® is an experimental performance workshop focusing on natural musical communication, authenticity, and empowerment.  The lively format is based on various group interactions.  Increasingly popular internationally, the “Un-Master Class” was profiled in the New York Times and has been held at major venues including the Aspen School, Royal College of Music (London), Central Conservatory (Beijing), University of Music and Performing Arts (Vienna), and Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts (Washington, DC (Four singers are needed. Contact Suzanne Draayer at sdraayer@winona.edu to sing in this master class.)
 
3:15-5:15 Speed Presenting of New Operas (NOA)                                      

5:15-7:30 Dinner Break
 
7:30 The Beautiful Bridegroom (NOA) - Georgia State University School of Music Opera Theater
 
9:30 PM Cabaret Berlin                                                                         

Saturday - January 9
8:00 Scholarly Papers Session (NOA)
 
8:30-9:00 Registration (NATS)
 
9:00-2:30 Vocal Competition Finals (NOA)
9:00-10:15 Wax On, Wax Off: Hollywood Looks at the Teacher/Student Relationship (William Westney) (NATS) - This montage combines clips from two Hollywood movies that explore the teacher/student relationship with specificity and sensitivity. Poignant, amusing, and thought provoking, these films will offer images that will linger in the mind.

10:15 break
 
10:15-12:30 Poster Session 1 (NOA)
10:45-12:00 Aging of the Artistic Voice (Thomas Murry) (NATS) - The voice ages just like the rest of the body. Muscles change, joints become more fibrotic and stiff and our body shape may be altered with life. What can the vocal artist expect with advancing age? Does singing affect vocal aging?
 
10:45-12:00 Opera Production Competition (NOA)
11:30-12:45 Session (NOA)
 
12:00 lunch
1:30 Session (NOA)
1:30-2:45 Masterclass: Ornamenting Handel Arias (Martha Elliott) (NATS) - Participants will bring in any Handel aria and we will work on articulation and ornamentation, including cadenzas and variations in the da capo. (Contact Suzanne Draayer at sdraayer@winona.edu to sing in this master class.)
2:45-3:15 break
3:15-4:45 New Horizons in Voice Classification (Scott McCoy) (NATS) - This session will explore ways that acoustic voice measures might assist teachers, conductors, and directors to better assess a singer's suitability for a role and vocal compatibility with others. The technology has practical application for the casting of operas and oratorios, and can assist in the selection and seating of members in a choral ensemble.
3:15-5:00 Innovations in Motion and Sound Capture Devices (NOA)
6:15-10:30 15th Annual Legacy Gala Banquet and Awards (NOA)

Sunday - January 10
8:00-9:30 Scholarly Papers Session (NOA)
8:30-9:00 Registration (NATS)
9:00-10:15 Singer Training in the 21st Century (Scott McCoy) (NATS) - Panelists will report and discuss the ongoing Singer Training Forum, held under the sponsorship of OPERA America. We will explore areas of success and weakness in the preparation of young artists for their future careers on stage, perhaps including objective voice measures that can help singers and their teachers better assess viability for a career.

10:15-10:45 break

10:45 Who's in the Studio? (William Westney) (NATS) - How do we build trust between teacher and student? How can we establish a comfortable relationship in which both parties are free to take risks? Since human beings have so many innate differences, the most productive answers often come from asking, with mutual respect, “Who am I—and who are you?”
 
12:00 lunch

1:30 Plenary session (NOA)

2:45 break

3:15 NATS/NOA sessions