Melissa Foster

At the 2023 NATS Summer Workshop (July 7-9), Melissa Foster will present “Singing Pop/Rock: The Foundation of Style” and “Exploring Hip-Hop: Rap and R&B History and Pedagogy.”

Register online or call the NATS executive office at 904-992-9101. See schedule and details.

We can hardly wait for the Summer Workshop to be here! Tell us a bit about yourself. When did you become interested in teaching hip-hop and pop/rock?

My undergraduate and graduate degrees were focused in voice and opera, and musical theatre. I’m a musical theatre professor at Northwestern University. Over the last decade, we’ve seen a shift in the contemporary musical theatre sound, and many of the shows today are pop/rock based. I love working with students on this material, and these vocal styles. Pop/rock can be intimidating for those who haven’t studied it, and I love helping people gain confidence as they learn to sing these styles in an efficient, healthy, and authentic way.

Your first session, “Singing Pop/Rock: The Foundation of Style,” sounds super fun as well as informative! What do you hope attendees take away from this session?

The Rock sound is awash with stylistic elements. These were born out of socio-political and cultural occurrences happening at the time. I hope to help folx connect the dots and understand what the rock stylisms are, where they came from, and how the sounds are made.

For your second session, “Exploring Hip-Hop: Rap and R&B History and Pedagogy,” what misconceptions do you think classically trained teachers and singers have about hip-hop? Do you recommend any specific resources that attendees can start exploring ahead of time?

I think a lot of people feel that hip-hop isn’t for them. But hip-hop is today’s pop music. Hip-hop is everywhere. I would love attendees to listen to some iconic rap songs from it’s 50 year tenure, so they can hear commonalities and shifts in the sounds. “I don’t’ like Rap” is like saying “I don’t like produce.” That is such a vast category! So, I’m excited for people to familiarize and demystify the genre.

Both of your sessions involve a master class component. Any recommendations to those who are planning to submit a recording?

Don’t be nervous, or think that you need to be Beyoncé to submit! I’d love to work with anyone that wants to experiment and have some fun.

Are there other sessions at the workshop that you are looking forward to attending yourself?

I’m so excited to see the other presentations. This workshop is full of such amazing educators, and I’m thrilled to have the opportunity to learn from them.

Don’t miss your opportunity to explore lots of diverse repertoire with us at our 2023 Summer Workshop. From uncommon gems of American Negro Spirituals and lesser-known musical theatre rep, to Nordic, Catalan, and Korean art songs, living composers, hip-hop and pop/rock, we’ve got so much in store.

Summer Workshop Overview

Schedule

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