Teatro Nuovo's 2027 Resident Artist Program application is now closed.
If you submitted an application but haven’t heard from us by September 7, please check your spam folder before contacting auditions@teatronuovo.org.
Anyone wishing to apply after the September 1 deadline should email auditions@teatronuovo.org to inquire about the possibility of submitting a late application. We will evaluate late application requests on a case-by-case basis.
The 2026 Resident Artists in act I of Il Turco in Italia. Photo by Steven Pisano
Deadline:
Applications must be received by Tuesday, September 1, 2026.
Eligibilities:
No age limit. All positions must be filled either by
U.S. citizens or permanent residents
Singers with OPT/CPT eligibility
Holders of O-1B/P-3/P-2 visas or other eligible U.S. work permit
Canadian citizens or permanent residents who are members in good standing of the Canadian Federation of Musicians
Materials Required:
Two recent recordings (made within the last 24 months) and a current résumé must be included as part of the completed application form.
At least one of the recordings should be in video form. The selections may be in any genre (opera, song, or oratorio), any period, and any language, but please bear in mind that we specialize in 19th-century Italian opera, and take a moment to read the section “what we’re looking for” below.
Late applications:
Anyone wishing to apply after the deadline should write to us at auditions@teatronuovo.org to inquire about the possibility. We will evaluate these requests on a case-by-case basis.
Audition Requirements:
If granted an audition, you should bring repertory that shows the following (whether in separate pieces or together in a single piece):
Slow, sustained legato lines with long notes
Coloratura agility
Recitative in Italian
Some things to note about choice of repertory:
Baroque, Classical, and Romantic repertory are all welcome
Oratorio, song, and opera are all welcome
We don’t mind if you sing some pieces on-book
We are more interested in what skills and vocal qualities your selections show than in the period or category of the pieces.
Audition location and dates:
We will hold auditions in New York City on Sept. 13, 25, 26, and Oct. 10, 16, 17 for which a pianist will be available on-site (see below). Each applicant should select a first-choice audition date, and if more than one date is possible, please indicate second and third choices as well. Some contract offers may be made before the end of the audition period, so it is an advantage to choose an early date if possible.
We will hold auditions in Toronto on Oct. 23. These auditions are open to Canadian citizens or permanent residents who are members of the Canadian Federation of Musicians, or to U.S. singers unable to be in New York on our scheduled dates.
Applicants who cannot make any of these dates should select “Off-cycle audition” on the Application Form. We will attempt to accommodate any date in between Sept. 14 and Oct. 21 that you are able to be in New York. If that is a date outside the scheduled auditions listed above, you will need to bring your own pianist. If your only availability in New York is after Oct. 22, you may still apply and select “off-cycle audition,” and we will consider on a case-by-case basis whether we can grant a later audition.
Applicants who cannot travel to New York at all should select “Remote audition” on the Application Form. In some cases we may schedule a virtual audition via Zoom, for which you will need to bring your own pianist, or in others we may arrange for a TN representative to hear you in person in another location.
Audition pianist:
Applicants auditioning on our scheduled dates may bring their own pianists, or may use the pianist provided by Teatro Nuovo for a fee of $30 payable to the pianist directly at the time of audition. As noted above, singers auditioning outside those scheduled dates must provide their own pianist.
Season Information:
Our 2027 season is devoted to operatic and concert works of Gaetano Donizetti. The two operas (subject to change) are planned to be Linda di Chamounix and Belisario.
Program location:
New York, NY and Montclair, NJ, USA
Program dates:
June 3 to July 22, 2027 (Arrive on June 2; depart on July 23)
Who we are:
Teatro Nuovo is an opera company presenting performances in and near New York City, accompanied by an innovative training program designed to provide opportunities and information not generally available elsewhere. The training program supports the overall mission of Teatro Nuovo: renewal of classic Italian repertory through restoration of historical performance styles. We see a need for a program that does not try to focus on the “everything” of opera, but instead works with the greatest possible depth and intensity on a narrow group of topics directly related to the performance of the score. For more about our curriculum, see “What we offer” below and https://www.teatronuovo.org/vocal-program. For information on our past seasons and the reviews our artists receive in the national and international press, see https://www.teatronuovo.org/press.
What we offer:
Our Resident Artists cover principal roles, sing and cover secondary roles, appear as soloists in concerts, and form the choral ensemble in our productions, which we take care to make a “soloist-friendly” experience. Its unusual features include the collaboration of a period-instrument orchestra drawn from around the world; in-depth seminars and lessons in historical performance practice and ornamentation; an intensive Italian-language program, augmented by pre-season libretto study via Zoom; and concentrated work with our cover casts (including two complete “cover runs” of each opera led by their music directors). For more details about our goals and faculty, please visit https://www.teatronuovo.org/yap-overview.
What we're looking for:
Among the many qualities that can make a successful opera singer, we are looking for certain ones that fit Teatro Nuovo's style and mission. Please read through the following; if this describes you—or the singer you think you can become—then you and TN may be right for each other.
We want you to be a strong musician. The singers who get the most out of our program are generally ace sight-readers or super-fast ear learners, who can grasp Bel Canto passages easily and execute them accurately without prolonged study. We need singers who can "get the notes right" quickly as we try out different ornaments and cadenzas.
We want you to be an independent thinker. We are looking for singers who do not need a coach to teach them the music or spoon-feed its interpretation. We will challenge you with specialized historical information, and we also want you to bring your own expertise and opinions to the table.
We want you to be technically ambitious. A fundamental part of TN's mission is to uphold demanding standards of vocal function: perfect legato; consistency and power throughout the range; mastery of registration; fine control of dynamics without compromise of vocal timbre; easily intelligible vowels and consonants; crystal-clear agility. We want singers who are eager to remedy any shortfall in these areas, and eager to take the strengths they already have to the highest possible level.
We want you to love Italian. High-level interpretation of Italian opera requires understanding its poetry. We need you to be committed to learning (and/or learning more about) the mother tongue of Bel Canto.
We want you to be open-minded and imaginative. Teatro Nuovo presents interpretations that are in some ways "non-standard" for the mainstream opera world. We are not very interested in "the way it's usually done." We are very interested in "the way(s) it was done at the time," because performance styles of the distant past open up such a wide field for creativity and expression.
A few other notes about our selection process:
We are inclusive. Teatro Nuovo welcomes singers of all backgrounds, origins, and orientations, and has done so from its inception in 2018. We are interested in your voice, your chops, your expressiveness, your musicianship, and your capacity for hard work. We are not so interested in your school, your look, your clothes, who you know, or what programs you have done before.
Queremos mucho a los hispanohablantes. Su herencia lingüística y cultural aporta un ingrediente precioso a la mezcla del Bel Canto. Si logramos inscribir a un grupo suficiente, ofreceremos clases de "italiano basado en español." Además nos interesa el repertorio poco conocido de canciones y romanzas del siglo XIX con letra castellana en estilo operístico.
If we are right for each other, don't let money or timing stand in the way. Although live auditions are always preferable, we recognize that not every qualified singer has a travel budget, and we also understand that other responsibilities may prevent you from being in New York during our audition period. If either of those is your situation, please take advantage of the option to request an off-cycle or remote audition.
Compensation:
All Resident Artists are hired as employees of Teatro Nuovo for the entire period, working up to six hours per day in a six-day work week. Except for one or possibly two Sunday performances, Sundays are free. When Sunday is a performance day, another free day will be scheduled. The salary range is from a base of $4,250 to approximately $5,500, based on assignments that will be specified at the time offers are made. Those assignments include covering principal roles and singing or covering smaller roles.
Travel:
Teatro Nuovo will arrange and pay for one roundtrip from the artist’s domicile if more than fifty miles distant from New York City.
Housing:
Teatro Nuovo makes a contribution to the housing and/or commuting expenses of its Resident Artists, but does not cover the entire cost. Montclair State University offers housing at a rate of $55 per night. Teatro Nuovo will contribute $25 per day above and beyond your salary for participants choosing this option. On-campus housing at Montclair State University consists of an individual air-conditioned bedroom in a shared apartment.
Alternatively, participants who have access to housing within commuting distance of Montclair may choose instead to live off campus and receive up to $25 per day for reimbursement of documented commuting and/or housing expenditures.
Inexpensive parking is available to both commuters and residents near the residence buildings and the rehearsal area. Commuting via public transportation is also possible from anywhere in the New York area.
Contact information:
auditions@teatronuovo.org
