Where can i find opera singing lessons?

Question:

Where can i find opera singing lessons?

I'm between age 15-18 and have always love singing opera.. It has been a dream of mine since i was 5 i wanted to be a professional opera singer, like Renee Fleming and Maria Callas..etc..

Could someone give me some web site address for some weekend classes, or private vocal tutoring with registered teachers... I have been search for like 3 months, but haven't had any luck.

Could someone help?

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: Hi, I've been singing opera for many years professionally, hope this will help. Most good teachers advise it is unwise to train a voice classically before the age of 18. This is because the cartillage which your voice box (larynx) is made of will not mature until then and permanent damage can be done if you are not careful. If you are under 18, you would be wise to take singing lessons privately with a proper qualified teacher (beware bad teachers, they can cause irreparable damage to a voice) who will not push your voice for your age. Phone the Incorporated Society of Musicians on 020 7629 4413 or check out www.ism.org to find a qualified, recommended teacher in your area. After that, to be taken seriously in opera, you will need to get into one of the big music colleges and do a degree or performance diploma in singing. This is because eventually you will need a CV and opera companies will judge your CV on the prestigiousness of the college you went to. However, this is incredibly expensive, fees can be thousands of pounds a year more than a normal university course. Don't forget there are many other things you will need to master as an opera singer - some fluency in Italian, French, German and another language such as Czech or Russian is usually necessary, and you will need to learn to act to a professional standard and possibly become reasonably good on the piano. Learning to read music to degree level is a must. At the end of all that, there is very little work in opera and competition is fierce, I still spend a few hundred pounds a month of my own money on singing lessons (good teachers charge around ⣶0-⣸0 an hour in London) coaching sessions with pianists (around ⣴0 an hour) and private language lessons (around ⣲5 an hour). Unfortunately its often the wealthy that succeed! Hope that helps, if you are determined, then never give up, whatever anyone else says!