The Academy of Vocal Arts (AVA) is a school dedicated to providing higher education to aspiring

opera Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a librett ...

singers. It is the only tuition-free institution in the world devoted solely to operatic training and performance. The school was founded in 1934 by Helen Corning Warden and is located at 1920 Spruce Street in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

.New York Times 2008
Notable alumni include Lando Bartolini, Harry Dworchak, and Ruth Ann Swenson. The institution maintains a Hall of Fame for Great American Opera Singers which ''

The Opera Quarterly ''The Opera Quarterly'' is a peer review Peer review is the evaluation of work by one or more people with similar competencies as the producers of the work (peers). It functions as a form of self-regulation by qualified members of a prof ...

'' described as equivalent to the

kammersänger Kammersänger (male) or Kammersängerin (female), abbreviated Ks. or KS, is a German honorific title for distinguished singers of opera and classical music. It literally means "chamber singer". Historically, the title was bestowed by princes or ...

title in Europe. Some of the artists in the AVA's Hall of Fame include John Alexander,

Rose Bampton Rose Bampton (November 28, 1907 in Lakewood, Ohio – August 21, 2007 in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania) was an American opera singer who had an active international career during the 1930s and 1940s. She began her professional career performing mostly m ...

Lili Chookasian Lili Chookasian (August 1, 1921April 9, 2012) was an American contralto of Armenian ethnicity, who appeared with many of the world's major symphony orchestras and opera houses. She began her career in the 1940s as a concert singer but did not ...

Phyllis Curtin Phyllis Curtin (née Smith; December 3, 1921 – June 5, 2016) was an American soprano and academic teacher who had an active career in operas and concerts from the early 1950s through the 1980s. She is known for her creation of roles in ope ...

Frank Guarrera Frank Guarrera (December 3, 1923 – November 23, 2007) was an Italian-American lyric baritone who enjoyed a long and distinguished career at the Metropolitan Opera, singing with the company for a total of 680 performances. He performed 35 differe ...

, John Macurdy,

Rosa Ponselle Rosa Melba Ponzillo, known as Rosa Ponselle (January 22, 1897 – May 25, 1981) was an American operatic soprano. She sang mainly at the New York Metropolitan Opera and is generally considered to have been one of the greatest sopranos of the 20t ...

Eleanor Steber Eleanor Steber (July 17, 1914October 3, 1990) was an American operatic soprano. Steber is noted as one of the first major opera stars to have achieved the highest success with training and a career based in the United States. Biography Eleanor ...

Jess Thomas Jess Thomas (August 4, 1927 – October 11, 1993) was an American operatic tenor, best known for singing Richard Wagner, Wagner compositions. Biography Jess Floyd Thomas was born in Hot Springs, South Dakota. As a child, he took part in va ...

Jon Vickers Jonathan Stewart Vickers, (October 29, 1926 – July 10, 2015), known professionally as Jon Vickers, was a Canadian heldentenor. Born in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan, he was the sixth in a family of eight children. In 1950, he was awarded a ...

, and Beverly Wolff.

References

External links

* {{authority control Music schools in Pennsylvania Opera organizations Educational institutions established in 1934 1934 establishments in Pennsylvania Schools in Philadelphia Arts organizations established in 1934