Drake University Summer Voice Intensive

Directions Website Contact the school

Drake University Summer Voice Intensive By the end of the week, you will leave a better performer and musician!

The Drake University Summer Voice Intensive is a week long summer camp for middle and high school aged students to work on developing their solo voices and choral singing.

We were so excited to host the first ever DUVI Voice Competition last week! We heard wonderful singing from everyone. Ma...
06/17/2026

We were so excited to host the first ever DUVI Voice Competition last week! We heard wonderful singing from everyone. Many thanks to Professor Leanne Freeman Miller who provided the monetary prizes and to Dr Ann Cravero and Dr Alyssa Becker for judging.

Many congrats to our winners:
1st Place 🥇 Evelyn Skeffington
2nd Place 🥈 Juan Ramirez
3rd Place 🥉 Mary VanSpeybroeck

Honorable Mention: Nisha Tilala and Calista Beck

Congratulations to everyone on your preparation and participation!

06/12/2026
4th day of DUVI was fantastic, it is always incredible to see how much progress the students can make in such a short ti...
06/11/2026

4th day of DUVI was fantastic, it is always incredible to see how much progress the students can make in such a short time! We are looking forward to putting everything together tomorrow for our final performance and we hope to see many of you there!

Introducing  our Guest Artist for the camp!Kellen Schrimper, baritone and Drake University alum (BM ‘19), recently made ...
06/11/2026

Introducing our Guest Artist for the camp!

Kellen Schrimper, baritone and Drake University alum (BM ‘19), recently made his company and role debuts as High Priest of Dagon (Samson et Dalila) with West Bay Opera. He also debuted the role of Count Carl-Magnus Malcolm (A Little Night Music) with Opera in the Heights in Houston. Last season, Mr. Schrimper covered the title role in Verdi’s Macbeth with Teatro Nuovo as a resident artist. Prior to his time there, he sang The Pilot (Portman, The Little Prince) with Opera in the Heights, where he made his principal role debut as Marcello (La bohème) in their previous season. He has also sung the roles of Count Almaviva (Le nozze di Figaro) and Ford (Falstaff) with Pacific Northwest Opera. In 2025, Mr. Schrimper was the 2nd Prize and Audience Choice Award recipient at Opera Birmingham’s Vocal Competition. He has been an apprentice artist with several summer festivals including Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, where he covered the role of Scarpia (Tosca) as well as Reverend Olin Blitch (Susannah). He was also a District Encouragement Award winner for The Met Laffont Competition in his native Iowa District, as well as a finalist in the Houston Saengerbund Awards in 2022.

Third day of DUVI went amazing! A lot of productive work was done on the music and we are looking forward to seeing ever...
06/11/2026

Third day of DUVI went amazing! A lot of productive work was done on the music and we are looking forward to seeing everything come together in two days for the final performance!

Such a fun day 2 for DUVI! We had a great time getting to show the students around Drake campus on a scavenger hunt and ...
06/09/2026

Such a fun day 2 for DUVI! We had a great time getting to show the students around Drake campus on a scavenger hunt and even getting to see some of our interns get scoped by an ENT!

06/09/2026

Greetings Parents and Campers,
We apologize for the difficulties with air coniditioning yesterday, this was unprecedented. For Tuesday and the rest of the week, we have made arrangements to be in buildings with working air conditioning until the fine arts center is fixed. Students will be notified of their class relocations via their interns and the band app. We greatly appreciate your flexibility and patience. If you have any questions please email [email protected].
Thank you,
DUVI Faculty team

06/09/2026

What an incredible first day of camp! It's so amazing to see all of the students so hard at work already and we are looking forward to the rest of this amazing week!

Welcome to DUVI 2026!
06/08/2026

Welcome to DUVI 2026!

Soprano Christine Blanner has performed throughout the United States, as well as in China, Italy, Switzerland, and Franc...
06/08/2026

Soprano Christine Blanner has performed throughout the United States, as well as in China, Italy, Switzerland, and France. Featured roles include Polly Peacham in Threepenny Opera, Adele in Die Fledermaus, Mme. Heartmelt in The Impressario, Bastienne in Bastien und Bastienne, Clara in Signor Deluso, Juliet in The Little Sweep, Angelina in Trial by Jury, Second Woman in Dido and Aeneas and Ruth in the world premiere of Sparks Fly Upward. Her Oratorio credits include Soprano Soloist in Barber’s Knoxville: Summer of 1915, Soprano Soloist in Beethoven’s C Major Mass, Soprano Soloist in Beethoven’s Choral Fantasy, Second Soprano Soloist in Mozart’s C Minor Mass and Soprano Soloist in Haydn’s Lord Nelson Mass. Ms. Blanner performed a recital of American art songs and arias at the Salon de Bourguignon during the Fête de la Musique in Chouzy-sûr-Cisse, France in 2008, and visited Shanghai, China in 2012 to perform at the Shanghai International Youth Festival.

Ms. Blanner is a Teaching Associate of Voice at Drake University and has been a member of the voice faculty since 2007. A dedicated teacher, her students are frequent winners of the National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS) competitions. Many of her students have been accepted into graduate and young artist training programs around the globe. In 2022, she was initiated as a Sigma Alpha Iota Distinguished Member by the Pi Chapter at Drake University.

A passionate and active stage director, Ms. Blanner is currently the Director of Drake Opera Theatre. She also serves as the Opera Scenes Program Artistic Director for the International Lyric Academy in Vicenza, Italy and has previously directed for the Boston Opera Collaborative, New England Conservatory and Missouri State University.

Ms. Blanner received her Bachelor of Music degree in Vocal Performance from Drake University in 2003 and her Masters of Music degree in Vocal Performance from the New England Conservatory of Music in 2006, graduating with Academic Honors.

Address

Des Moines, IA
50311

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Drake University Summer Voice Intensive posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Contact The School

Send a message to Drake University Summer Voice Intensive:

Shortcuts

Share