Opera and Vocal Arts

UCI Vocal Arts has a long tradition of performance excellence. The Vocal Arts program at UC Irvine provides intensive study and exceptional performance opportunities for undergraduate and graduate students pursuing careers in vocal music. Undergraduate alumni have been accepted into prestigious graduate programs at research universities and conservatories, and graduate alumni have gone on to careers in university teaching and professional performance organizations.

UCI Opera has a strong tradition of preprofessional training for emerging singers. Through concert and fully staged productions, UCI Opera maintains high standards of operatic performance. Past productions include the Southern California premiere of Ned Rorem’s Our Town (based on the play by Thornton Wilder), Puccini’s Suor Angelica, Johann Strauss II’s Die Fledermaus, Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas, Gluck’s Orfeo ed Euridice, and William Grant Still’s Highway 1, USA, among many others. UCI Opera collaborates with the UCI Symphony under the artistic direction of Darryl Taylor and Maestro Geoffrey Pope. The 2024 opera production was Britten’s The Turn of the Screw, with stage direction by Andreas Mitisek.

UCI Opera is open to all UCI students by audition, which takes place during Welcome Week just before the fall quarter. For more information, contact Professor Darryl Taylor.

Home of the African American Art Song Alliance, UCI Arts hosts international conferences that bring together artists and scholars from around the world for performances, scholarly presentations, and panel discussions. The next conference will take place in February 2027.