Professor of Voice - BYU
An accidental enrollment in high school choir set J. Arden Hopkin on a career as a singer that has encompassed the operatic and musical theater stage, oratorio, the concert hall and the recital platform. His education includes the Doctor of Musical Arts degree and the Performer’s Certificate from the Eastman School of Music, the Masterof Music degree from the University of North Texas, and the Bachelor of Music degree from Brigham Young University. For much of his adult life, he has balanced the pressures of teaching and performing. He specializes in the vocal music of Spain and Latin America.
For much of his teaching career he has focused on voice teaching and opera education, having served as Head of Vocal Studies and Director of Opera at Texas Christian University and Opera Director at Brigham Young University. For more than 30 years, He has directed and taught in summer opera training programs in the United States and Canada.
A frequent oratorio soloist, his voice was heard around the world in 1980 on the Armed Forces Radio Network performing Handel’s Messiah. He includes the major works of Bach, Mendelssohn’s Elijah, and the Brahms, Faure, and Verdi Requiem in his repertoire.
His publications include the article “Vowel Equalization,” in the Journal of Singing, and The Art Song in Latin America [Pendragon Press, 1998], an anthology of Twentieth-Century songs from South and Central America, on which he collaborated. His reference book Songs for Young Singers, An Annotated List of Songs for Developing Voices was released by Scarecrow Press in 2002.
He specializes in the voca l music of Iberia and Latin America. He has performed and presented master classes internationally in Brazil, Mexico, Peru, Chile, and Spain. He has released a CD, Songs of Spain,reflecting his interest in that musical tradition.
He is currently the Head of Vocal Studies at BYU and teaches studio voice, French lyric diction, and vocal pedagogy in the School of Music, where he spends much of his time training the next generation of voice teachers.
Link to abbreviated CV (in pdf)
Contact at BYU
areden_hopkin@byu.edu
