About the Department
The Vocal Studies Department focuses on the training of young professional singers. Students of Singing will develop a high level of technical and performance skills. They will become familiar in depth with music history and the development of artistic movements and will be able to navigate the aesthetics of the arts, including knowledge of the development of artistic movements. They will also gain practical experience through work on faculty and university-wide projects. These include solo concerts, chamber projects, and Chamber Opera and Studio Nine projects, or they will gain experience by studying abroad. The study of Voice will prepare the student to work with his or her own developed creative imagination and imagination. At the same time, the student will gain a deep knowledge of music and drama in the context of the history of music, literature, drama and visual arts, and will be able to create his/her work on a scholarly level.
The aim of the Department of Singing is to develop the individual vocal and technical foundations with which students are admitted to study. To lead the graduate to the art of song construction, operatic arias and to the interplay with accompanying instruments. From the point of view of movement, it is a combined process in synergy with pedagogical guidance in acting and movement education, at the end of which is the education of a vocally, acting and movement proficient graduate – a professional, who will be a successful representative of the HF JAMU in practice, an artist who will establish himself as a soloist on one of the opera stages, or as a member of a professional choral ensemble, a concert singer or, last but not least, as a quality teacher.
Since its inception, the Department of Singing has educated a number of distinguished singers – professionals working on domestic and foreign opera stages and concert stages. The teachers who have worked and continue to work here pass on their artistic experience to the young generation at the beginning of their artistic careers, develop their disposition both technically and performatively, and expand their repertoire in concert, chamber and opera.
The study is aimed at developing the individual technical foundations with which the students have been accepted, perfecting the breathing technique in order to consolidate the singing support, training the phonation function, resonance and articulation function, and correct tone placement. The teaching is aimed at the perfect combination of registers and the alignment of resonance, the neutralization of vocals, the ability to work with dynamics, messa di voce, the mobility of the voice according to the vocal field and the formation of the overall singing personality. For the needs of interpretation of all styles of music, including music of all periods 20. and the 21st century, students have the opportunity to attend various singing courses and masterclasses directly at the HF JAMU.
The Department of Singing offers studies in:
- Master’s degree programme
- Doctoral study programme
Study
In addition to vocal and technical skills, the graduate will be able to take into account the ethical and social dimension of his/her artistic work and to observe general ethical principles. At the same time he/she will know the psychological rules, be able to work in a team and communicate well with its members. They will also learn to control their verbal expression, self-reflection, be open to the opinions of their surroundings and work creatively with the acquired knowledge and skills. The graduate will follow current trends in the given field of study and use them in his/her professional development.
- has a wide knowledge of the repertoire of singing, concert and opera, including that for chamber ensembles
- is able to explain the compositional principles and tectonics of the studied musical work in such a way as to maintain his/her own distinct opinion on the interpretation
- is familiar with the basic principles of pedagogical work and has a detailed knowledge of contemporary trends and methods of teaching this field of study
- is also familiar with literature and foreign sources
- has an in-depth knowledge of the history and literature of singing, music history, aesthetics and the development of artistic movements, including an orientation in foreign literature
- is familiar with contemporary trends in pedagogy and psychology
- knows the key financial, business and legal aspects of the music profession, copyright law and its application in practice.
Skills:
- uses the basic artistic practices of the discipline to bring new inspirational impulses
- knows how to present his/her artistic performance and the performance of the whole team in public in the country and abroad
- knows the professional vocabulary and is familiar with musical terminology
- follows current trends in their field of study and is able to integrate them into their professional development
- knows how to create professional text
- knows foreign languages
- and can make practical use of technologies related to his/her specialisation.
Applicants for the study of Singing must have completed secondary education with a high school diploma. In the practical part of the entrance examination, he/she must demonstrate that his/her skills and abilities in singing are at an exceptional level. The practical examination also determines professional and, above all, artistic aptitude for the study of singing. The entrance examination takes the form of written tests, an interview and a practical skills test.
Teacher profiles
Ivana Mikesková is a graduate of the State Conservatory Bratislava (singing), Comenius University Bratislava (music education/Italian language) and HF JAMU Brno (singing). She has extended her education with scholarships at the Royal Conservatory in The Hague, Università degli Studi in Trieste, International Summer School in Dartington and Accademia Chighiana in Siena (under the direction of Maestro Renato Bruson). She has been a member of the ensemble of the Slovak National Theatre Opera in Bratislava and has been engaged in concert activities at home and abroad. She is a laureate of many singing competitions – M. Schneider-Trnavský’s MPS (1st category – 2nd place), Young Artists’ Competition Tour in London (2nd place), A. Dvořák’s MPS in Karlovy Vary. For many years he has been intensively engaged in pedagogical activities, conducting lectures focusing on the human voice and OLMIK singing courses. In 2010, she completed her doctoral studies at the Faculty of Music of the Academy of Performing Arts in Brno and is currently the head of the Department of Singing.
What are you most proud of during your time as an artist?
In my practice, I have long been engaged mainly in teaching, and so despite numerous concert performances at home and abroad, I am today proud mainly of my students and their achievements.
Where do you look for a source of motivation and inspiration?
For me, life with everything it brings us is a motivation and a source of inspiration. Singing is a means of expressing the diversity of human existence, and this has always fascinated me.
If you had to give one piece of advice to students, what would it be?
You have to love music and singing and find your own way in it, so my advice would be not to be afraid to go your own way and look for the best personalities as “guides”.
What does JAMU mean to you personally?
For me personally, JAMU is an institution where a teacher and a student who loves music and singing have a huge space for their realization. Great musicians, singers and artists collaborate here, creating quality musical productions. For me, it is an institution where everyone who has decided to pursue music and theatre professionally belongs.
Soprano Ivana Pavlů studied singing at the Brno Conservatoire with Irena Sobolová Hýlová and at the Janáček Academy of Performing Arts in Brno with Zdeněk Šmukar and continues to improve her singing skills at master classes with Czech and foreign teachers.
Already during her studies, she was a laureate of many international singing competitions, among them the Antonín Dvořák International Singing Competition in Karlovy Vary, the Ferruccio Tagliavini International Singing Competition in Deutschlandsberg, Austria, the Bohuslav Martinů Foundation Competition, the Prague Singer Competition and the Dušek Singing Competition.
Her theatrical career began in December 2017, when she appeared as the First Lady in Mozart’s The Magic Flute at the Estates Theatre in Prague under the baton of Jaroslav Kyzlinek. In the spring of 2019, she made her debut at the National Moravian-Silesian Theatre in Ostrava in Bohuslav Martinů’s Juliette and has since been a guest soloist at the local opera house.
He enjoys spending time not only on the theatre stage, but also on concert stages. She has had the opportunity to collaborate with excellent conductors Jakub Klecker, Robert Kružík, Jaroslav Kyzlink, Bruno Ferrandis, Peter Vronsky, Vlad Weverbergh, as well as with domestic and foreign ensembles.
In addition to her theatre and concert activities, she is passionate about teaching singing, and since 2022 she has been an assistant professor at the Department of Singing at the Faculty of Music of the Janáček Academy of Performing Arts.
What are you most proud of during your time as an artist?
I love my job, so I’m happy to be doing something I find fulfilling and fun. The greatest pride comes when my students do well. When I see and hear a performance that reflects their hard work, enthusiasm, passion, energy. That really makes me proud. I then experience moments of happiness on stage and on stage and also during the rehearsal process, whether in the theatre rehearsal room or with an accompanist in preparation for a concert. In general, the creative process is very fulfilling for me, and if it is combined with music, it is doubly joyful.
Where do you look for a source of motivation and inspiration?
All my inspiration is people. Whether I engage in a dialogue with them, or just observe them at work, or see the result of that work. For example, my colleagues in the theater. It’s amazing to see how each singer works differently with their voice and with themselves to bring a character written in notes on paper to life on stage. Moreover, we often talk about these things and enrich each other. The students themselves in the Singing Department are also a great inspiration. Most of them already have quite coherent opinions and are open to discussion. I like that very much, that they are not afraid to talk, to debate, to broaden their outlook with the opinions and attitudes of others.
If you had to give one piece of advice to students, what would it be?
Find out what you really want in life and go for it!
There are hundreds of mentors in life who will tell you: Your place is on the stage, in the choir, behind the piano in the ZUŠ… etc. But no one sees you. Except you. So follow your own compass and work towards your goal. Then you won’t owe yourself anything.
What does JAMU mean to you personally?
Alma mater. A place where I got to know myself (at least for the most part), where I learned to form my own opinion on things and not be ashamed of it. A place where some wonderful friendships were born that still last and I believe will last a lifetime.