National Opera Association

Annual Convention

NOA holds an annual convention featuring performances, panels, workshops, and other continuing-education opportunities for opera educators, professionals, and students.

The 55^th Annual National Opera Association Convention will be held at the Westin Atlanta North at Perimeter Hotel in Atlanta, Georgia, January 7 through January 10, 2010. We are pleased that the convention will again be held in collaboration with the National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS) Winter Workshop.

Click image to view the 2010 convention booklet

Convention Registration

Registration is open online for the Atlanta convention.  Login to the member portal (as a member OR as a visitor!) and register for the convention NOW!  Choose "Convention Registration" and follow the easy directions.  Safe and secure payment via credit or debit card is assured.

Convention Highlights

We are excited to have as our keynote speaker for the opening luncheon Donald Runnicles, General Music Director of the Deutsche Oper Berlin since August 2009, and Chief Conductor of the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra since September 2009 and Music Director and Principal Conductor of the San Francisco Opera from 1992 to 2009. He is also Music Director of the Grand Teton Music Festival, and Principal Guest Conductor of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra. In addition, opening remarks will be made by Dennis Hanthorn, General Director of the Atlanta Opera.

Of course there will be the annual vocal competition, opera scenes competition and master class, scholarly paper session, Legacy Gala Banquet and Awards, Todd Duncan Century Fund Session and the popular “Cabaret,” presented by our membership.

NOA sessions will appeal to directors, singers, students, producers, conductors and teachers. Presenters will include: Copeland Woodruff, “Viewpoints,” an innovative approach to stage direction; Carroll Freeman, “txt me pls: one director’s look at the importance of text in staging opera;”  Dennis Hanthorn and Eric Mitchko of the Atlanta Opera, “Prognosis of Opera in the Region;” Ronald Ulen and Thomas King, “Jumping through the European Hoops;” Paul-André Bempechat, Lyrica Society, “Schumann’s Opera Genoveva;” Pierre Ruhe, former critic Atlanta Journal-Constitution, “What’s Happened to the Music Critic;” and Anne Harley, “Innovations in Motion & Sound Capture Devices;” Carl Gerbrandt, Sacred in Opera “The Staging of Elijah;” among others. Georgia State University Opera Theater will present, The Beautiful Bridegroom, by Dan Shore, winner of the Chamber Opera Composition Competition. The session “Speed Presenting,” (much like speed dating) should be of interest to our exhibitors, composers, librettists, and music businesses.

Special guests will include counter-tenor David Daniels and tenor Lawrence Brownlee.

NATS presenters are Martha Elliott, Scott McCoy, Thomas Murry and William Westney.  Martha, author of Singing in Style: A Guide to Vocal Performance Practices, will offer sessions in Baroque ornamentation.  Scott, NATS President and author of Your Voice: An Inside View (2004), will present sessions in voice classification.  Thomas, scientist and author, will discuss the aging singer and the effect of medications on the voice.  William, author and educator, will present his Un-Master Class®, an experimental performance workshop. Master class singers are needed for Martha Elliott’s master class and William’s Un-Master Class®. Interested singers should contact Suzanne Draayer, sdraayer@winona.edu, with repertoire choices.

Convention Schedule

You can view the full 2010 Convention Schedule here.

Past Conventions

Our 2009 Convention: 'On The Verge: New Ideas for a New Generation' was held January 8-11, 2009, in Washington, D.C.