Featuring virtuoso soprano Laiana Oliveira, a reference for composers interested in New Opera.

Facilitated by João MacDowell, “a new thinker in the operatic genre.” (Dagens Nyheter)

Application Link

Application deadline: September 1, 2026

The International Brazilian Opera Company invites composers to join The Soprano: Writing for the Operatic Voice, a focused composition course dedicated to one of the most expressive, demanding, and dramatically powerful instruments in opera: the spinto soprano voice.

Designed for composers, songwriters, arrangers, and creators of new music, this course explores the soprano not only as a dramatic force. Students will study how breath, register, resonance, language, color, virtuosity, and theatrical intention shape the architecture of operatic writing.

The course will feature the participation of acclaimed soprano Laiana Oliveira, whose experience in contemporary vocal music and new opera offers students a rare opportunity to write with a living performer in mind.

Course Overview

Writing well for the soprano voice requires an understanding of the body, the breath, the text, the character, and the drama.

Throughout the course, students will develop original material for soprano voice, moving from short vocal gestures and melodic studies toward a complete operatic scene, aria, or dramatic monologue.

The course will combine:

listening and score analysis
practical composition assignments
study of soprano repertoire
discussions of vocal technique and theatricality
feedback on student works
workshop with Laiana Oliveira
development of digital orchestration for demo recording
mixing techniques for blending the soprano recording with the playback track
final presentation of selected student pieces (YouTube Premiere)

Composers will be encouraged to develop writing that is both artistically ambitious and vocally intelligent.

Who Should Apply

This course is designed for:

composers interested in opera, vocal music, or music theater
students of composition seeking practical experience writing for voice
professional composers expanding into opera
songwriters interested in dramatic vocal writing
composers preparing arias, scenes, or chamber opera projects
creators interested in contemporary classical, experimental, or cross-cultural vocal music

Applicants should have music notation skills and some experience writing for instruments or voice. Prior opera experience is welcome but not required.

What You Will Study

The course will explore essential questions for composers writing for the spinto soprano:

How do you create a vocal line that is expressive, dramatic, and singable?
How does register affect meaning?
How does breath shape musical form?
How do vowels, consonants, and language influence melody?
How can virtuosity serve character rather than decoration?
How can a soprano line interact with piano, chamber ensemble, orchestra, or electronics?
How can a composer write music that invites the singer into the creative process?

Topics may include:

soprano range, tessitura, and passaggio
the spinto soprano and contemporary soprano writing
text setting and prosody
recitative, arioso, aria, and dramatic monologue
breath as structure
melodic contour and vocal resonance
high-register writing and climactic pacing
ornamentation and virtuosity
extended vocal techniques
writing for soprano with piano or chamber ensemble
orchestration and transparency around the voice
character, psychology, and dramatic transformation

Featured Artist: Laiana Oliveira

The course will feature Laiana Oliveira, a soprano recognized for her work in contemporary music and new operatic repertoire. Her participation will allow composers to hear, test, and refine their ideas with direct feedback from a professional singer. acclaimed for her virtuosity and musicianship.

Students will have the opportunity to understand what is idiomatic, what is difficult, what is effective, and what makes a vocal line come alive in performance.

João MacDowell

Noted by the Swedish press as “a new thinker of the genre” (Johanna Paulsson, Dagens Nyheter), Brazilian composer João MacDowell has a career that ranges from punk to opera. Since 2013, he has been serving as Artistic Director for the International Brazilian Opera Company – IBOC. His works have been presented by the Metropolitan Opera in New York, the New York Opera Alliance, the Janáček Academy in Brno (Czech Republic), Stockholm’s Museum of Modern Art (Moderna), the Swedish Royal Dramatic Theatre (Dramaten), the Brazilian National Orchestra (OSTNCS) in Brasília, among many others.

In recent years, João MacDowell has been dedicating his life to training new composers and conductors, building a roster of talent for the International Brazilian Opera Company.

João MacDowell – Composer and Artistic Director

Final Project

Each participant will develop an original work or excerpt for soprano voice.

Final projects may include:

a short aria
a dramatic monologue
a recitative-to-aria scene
a chamber opera excerpt
a vocal study with piano or electronics
a fully orchestrated soprano scene with accompaniment

Successful students will complete the course with a strong understanding of how to write for the operatic voice and a portfolio-ready vocal work.

Course Format

Format: Online
Schedule: September 9 to December 9 – Wednesdays 7- 9 PM EST
Duration: 12 Weeks (Skips Veterans Day and Thanksgiving for final project preparation)
Language: English (Portuguese/Spanish-bilingual if needed)
Instructor: João MacDowell
Featured Soprano: Laiana Oliveira
Institution: International Brazilian Opera Company / IBOC Composer’s Institute

Classes will include lectures, listening sessions, score study, composition workshops, and feedback on works in progress.

Why This Course Matters

Opera is built on the human voice. The soprano has carried some of the most unforgettable moments in the history of the form — love, madness, grief, revelation, resistance, ecstasy, and transformation.

For contemporary composers, writing for the spinto soprano offers a powerful opportunity: to connect musical imagination with the body, the breath, and the stage.

This course invites composers to approach the soprano voice as a living dramatic presence.