Voice Workshop

Individual voice technique lessons (duration= 1 h) are given weekly, as a basis for recovering your voice to make proper use of it in all aspects:

      - Spoken (lecturers, speakers, correcting hoarseness, actors, etc.)

      - Singing (soloists of different styles: pop, light, lyrical; choir singers)

IMPORTANT: as these are private lessons, advanced warning must be given (24h before) if the student cannot attend a class. If not, that class is to be paid for.

It is open to the entire UPF community.

• The first part of the class aims to become aware of the body as the vehicle for the voice through relaxation, stretching and breathing exercises.

• The second part  looks more deeply at breathing as the support for and driving force of the voice.

• Then, the third part of the class consists of vocal exercises to allow both the pupil and the instructor to ascertain the possibilities of the voice and use it properly through singing. Although singing may not be the pupil's goal, it  has the advantage of training the voice in a use that is not so habitual and “corrupted” as the spoken voice, in such a way that the pupil can more easily assimilate the instructor’s indications for proper voice placement.

• Finally, the last part of the class consists of performances of musical pieces chosen in accordance with the vocal, musical and emotional possibilities of each student (for singing), or it may also consist of reading or reciting texts aloud (for speaking).

Sessions take place in the rehearsal room (40.S33- Roger de Llúria building, Ciutadella campus) and will be arranged between instructor and pupil.

• Open your Campus Global session. 

• Once you have registered, we will contact you to schedule the sessions. 

If you have any problem when registering, contact the User Support Centre (CAU), saying you are interested in joining the Voice Workshop (Aula de Veu) and including your contact details.

The soprano Aída Vera is the UPF Choir conductor. She was born in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, where she took her first singing lessons with Lola de la Torre and studied a degree in Teacher Education.

Later, she widened her singing studies at the Hochschule für Musik und Darstellende Kunst in Vienna, under the guidance of Ilse Rap. She has attended lessons in singing technique under Liselotte Egger at the Mozarteum in Salzburg, and under Alfredo Kraus at the Summer University in Santander. Under the guidance of baritone Gino Bechi she attended the Opera Course of the Francesc Viñas Contest, courses on German Lied under maestro Dalton Baldwin and opera repertoire under Kamal Kahn, on various occasions. In Barcelona, she studied singing technique under maestro Jaume Francisco Puig and with Dolors Aldea.

As a soloist, she has given recitals in the Canary Islands, Catalonia, Madrid, Galicia, Mallorca, Ceuta, Vienna (Wiener Kammeroper, among others), New York (The UN), Ludwigshafen (Germany), etc. She has taken part in different oratory performances with chamber groups, i.e., Glinka Quartet, Camerata Mediterranea and other orchestras. She has sung in opening performances by Garcia Morante, Mathias Raue, Carles Santos, etc.

In contemporary music, she has sung works by Schönberg (Pierrot Lunaire) at the International Music Festival in Santander and by Xavier Montsalvatge (tribute at the Teatre Principal in Palma de Mallorca). She recorded Carlos Santos' score for the film “Warsaw bridge” by Pere Portabella. She has also recorded music for Spanish radio (RNE-4) and Mathias Raue's songs on poems by Ralph Günter Mohnnau for German television (ZDF). Together with the pianist Efrem García, they recorded a CD with Manuel Blancafort's music for voice and piano.

With the pianist Cecilio Tieles, she recorded her second CD devoted to the Majorcan composer Miquel Capllonch, including lieder from Schumann, Wieck and Brahms. Her third CD, with the pianist Àngel Soler and the mezzosoprano Dolors Cortès includes a selection of duets of Spanish and Latin American music for two voices and piano.

She has collaborated with the Choir of the Gran Teatre del Liceu (Barcelona) in different operas and concerts and she has also sung in the Choir of the Peralada Festival, in the Intermezzo Choir and in the Madrigal Choir of Barcelona. As a soloist, she has sung in different chamber operas in Vienna and in Catalonia, highlighting the Camerata Lírica i Escénica, Kontraveus and Òpera en Clau de Lluna. She has sung under the conductors Mund, Güell, Gandolfi and more.

Currently, she combines her concert activities with education, as a teacher of vocal technique, both for singing and speaking for both individuals and groups. She studied to be a Choir Conductor in Barcelona. Today, she is the conductor of several choirs: Germanor Choir (since 2004, with whom she recorded their first CD), Decroly Choir (since 2008) and Cor de Dones de Can Serra (since 2009, Hospitalet de Llobregat). Furthermore, she conducted the Margalló Choir for 6 years and established and conducted various children’s choirs in the Canary Islands. Aware of the importance of the body as the vehicle for the voice, she has worked for more than 5 years with the Alexander Technique under the tuition of Ariadna Viola.