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Student Singing Actors in Action 

Singing Actor Educator

"All truths are easy to understand once they are discovered; the point is to discover them."

                                                  -Galileo Galilei

Academic Appointments

 

Currently:

  • Director of Opera Studies, Associate Professor Baldwin Wallace Conservatory of Music

  • Assistant Artistic Director, Hawaii Performing Arts Festival

  • Acting / Movement Instructor, Cornish American Song Institute

 

Previously:

  • Executive Director, Oberlin in Italy

  • Production Designer, East Carolina University Opera Theater

  • Guest Stage Director Oberlin Opera Theater

  • Instructor of Voice and Opera Theater, Interlochen Arts Academy

  • Assistant Professor, Voice and Opera Workshop Baldwin Wallace Conservatory

  • Associate Instructor of Voice, Indiana University Jacobs School of Music

Mask Work / Physical Characterization workshop Oberlin Conservatory VAHS

​Guest Teaching and Directing

With a passionate interest in developing the talents of the emerging generation of singing actors and directors, Scott draws on his experience as a classically trained dancer, actor, singer, and competitive martial artist and athlete to enable singing actors to develop their whole-body instrument and to communicate through dynamic physical and vocal action on stage.  His pedagogical expertise 

encompasses singing acting technique, spoken theater, movement, physical characterization and character development, mask work, improvisation, period style and dance, fundamental stage, rapier and dagger combat, audition technique, and professional development. 

 

Scott's work incorporates the principles of practitioners including Adler, Balk, Bogart, Chekhov, Grotowski, Kaufmann, Hagen, Landau, Lecoq, Meisner, 

Stanislavsky, Strasberg, Suzuki, Zaporah and others.  Scott's clear and specific direction guides students to bring their characters to life in vivid, visceral and captivating singing acting performances.  Artists develop the total-body-instrument by building a personalized singing acting craft that is centered on a healthy process of imaginative exploration, discovery, interpretation, and powerful communication. Artists develop a synergetic understanding of their mind, body, and voice, and how to use their 'whole body instrument' to communicate truthfully in imagined circumstances through dynamic physical and vocal actions that are rooted in authentic relationships between text, music, character, given circumstances, and the artist themselves.  

 

Scott fosters a strong commitment to Ensemble Theater, and a genuinely warm, open, supportive, and available mindset and energy towards the work and fellow artists during production planning, rehearsals, and performances.  Throughout these stages of the production process, singing actors, instrumentalists, conductor, director, designers, and all members of the artistic and creative team work collaboratively to achieve the focused objective of a unified, engaging, moving, and relevant opera theater experience for the audience.

Scott is a frequent guest teacher throughout the United States and in Europe offering Master Classes and workshops on: Acting, Singing Acting, Movement, Physical Characterization, Mask work, Audition techniques, and Professional Development. Recent guest engagements include:   The University of Tennessee Knoxville Opera Theater.  East Carolina University School of Music, Kent State University, Interlochen Arts Camp, University of Central Missouri, Christopher Newport University, and the Musica nelle Marchè summer program. 

Scott's former appointments include associate instructor of voice at The Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, Acting and Movement instructor for the Oberlin Conservatory Vocal Academy for High School Students, and instructor of voice and director of the Interlochen Opera Theater.

 

He has directed new productions of Tobermory, Roman Fever and Trouble in Tahiti  for the Oberlin Conservatory of Music Opera Theater, Serse and La finta giardiniera for Oberlin in Italy, The Crucible, and Falstaff for Martina Arroyo's Role Preparation Program at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, The Medium, Too Many Sopranos and The Crucible for the Baldwin Wallace Conservatory of Music, and The Pirates of Penzance, Dido & Aeneas, and Orpheus in The Underworld for the Interlochen Opera Theater.    

 

He is currently the Executive Director of the Oberlin in Italy opera training program in Arezzo, Italy, and he will join the faculty of the Cornish American Song Institute as instructor of Interpretation and Movement in June 2016.

​

Scott is the recently appointed Director of Opera Studies and Associate Professor for the Baldwin Wallace Conservatory of Music. 

 

Scott is available for guest Master Classes & Workshops and as a guest or visiting Stage Director for conservatory and school of music based opera productions.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

At work with apprentice stage directors -Oberlin in Italy

Workshops & Master Classes may be combined or specially created to meet the needs of individuals, groups or classes. To request a more detailed outline, learn more about Scott's teaching, and  teaching philosophy, schedule a Workshop or Master Class, or to discuss a mini-residency or an entire Workshop Curriculum, please send Scott an email through the contact page

 

  • Physical & Vocal Characterization

  • Movement & Improvisation

  • Mask Work

  • Song & Aria Interpretation

  • Audition Workshops 

  • Professional consultations & Audition Package Work

  • Preparation & Rehearsal Techniques

  • Diction

  • ImaginAction©

 

Available Workshops & Master Classes

Dido & Aeneas Rehearsal - Interlochen Opera Theater 

Feedback from students:

 

  • "I have learned how to use every aspect of my being as well as my body in music."

 

  • "Thank you so much for everything you have done for our class.  I really appreciate how much you personally care about each and every one of us."

 

  • "I loved this class.  Scott Skiba is an amazing teacher.  I really understand him!"

 

  • "He has not only brought the opera program to a higher standard, but for me, specifically, he has really helped me grow as an artist."

 

  • "Best Course of the semester!  Loved the masks"

 

  • "Scott Skiba is the best professor in the conservatory.  I’ve learned so much from him and he is always available for extra help.  I’m so grateful for the opportunities he’s provided."

 

  • "I have grown so much from being in this class.  Thank you so much!"

 

  • "Thank you so much for directing our shows, for pushing our acting skills, and for making these operas the best shows they could be!"

Contact Improvisation - Interlochen Opera Theater

Scene from Il matrimonio segreto

Interlochen Opera Theater

Teaching Philosophy

 

Believeable Singing Acting Performances enabled through a simple, powerful process of:

 

 

Defenition:  "What does it say?"  - Defenition of words, rhythms, pitches 

 

Interpretation:  "What Does it Mean?" To character, artist, context of the work

 

Communication:  "How do I communicate the interpreted meaning  through physical and vocal actions with truth and believeability?"

 

 

"What am I saying and doing, and why am I saying and doing it?"

 

Singing Actors learn to answer this fundamental question developing a personal conection as artist and as their character to the interpreted "why” behind text, music, and actions.

 

  • Inspiring the singing actor's creative imagination

 

  • Enriching artistic insight

 

  • Developing the whole-body instrument

 

 

Singing Actors develop the ability to communicate with their whole-body instrument through dynamic physical and vocal actions that are rooted in the text and music, and motivated by character-specific intention that is authentic to the Given Circumstances of the work through a process of Exploration, Discovery, Imaginative Interpretation, and Dynamic Communication of text, music, and stage direction.

The Spider - Devised work of Opera Theater Created by  The Interlochen Opera Theater

Student Success and Placement

Scott has guided students in their acceptance and continued education with academic institutions including: Academy of Vocal Arts, Curtis, The Juilliard School, Baldwin Wallace Conservatory, The Boston Conservatory, University of Denver Lamont School of Music, DePaul University School of Music, DePauw University School of Music, Eastman School of Music, East Carolina University School of Music, Indiana University Jacobs School of Music,  Lawrence Conservatory of Music, New England Conservatory, The Oberlin Conservatory of Music, The Peabody Institute, Manhattan School of Music, The San Francisco Conservatory of Music, and Westminster Choir College.

 

Current and former students perform regularly with organizations and festivals such as: The Cleveland Orchestra, Opera Cleveland, Apollo's Fire, Opera Circle Cleveland, Cleveland Opera Theater, Great Lakes Theater Festival, Cleveland State University, The New London Barn Playhouse, The Beck Center, Fairbanks Summer Arts Festival, Oberlin in Italy, Musica nelle Marche, Operafestival di Roma and Sugar Creek Symphony and Song.  Successful entry into the following programs: Walnut Hill, Oberlin in Italy, Musica nelle Marche, Tanglewood, The Prairie Home Companion, and the Washington National Opera Institute for Young Singers.  - back to page top

Guest Teaching
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