Northeast Ohio Vocal Arts Academy professional training for singers and actors

Northeast Ohio Vocal Arts Academy’s mission is three-fold:

TO SUPPLY a comprehensive training program for performers age 12 and older;

TO PROVIDE a quality alternative to college vocal music and drama programs at a reasonable price; and

TO ENCOURAGE adults to pursue a healthy, active participation in vocal arts.

NOVAA has developed an extensive training program that specializes in live vocal performance. This program provides expert instruction through private lessons and small classes structured for singer-actors, age 12 through adult, at all experience levels. Students participate in recitals, monthly master classes and ensemble experiences, building the foundation for professional careers and a life-long appreciation for the performing arts.

PRIVATE STUDIES at NOVAA help performers grow because professional, experienced teachers with advanced degrees guide students through extensive training that is required for successful comprehension and outstanding performances.

ENSEMBLE CLASSES are designed to enhance private lessons and to help students become more audition- and performance-ready. Students who actively participate achieve their goals much faster and enjoy a sense of community with other active students.

NOVAA RECITALS help students learn to apply their vocal techniques to varied repertoires, develop stage deportment skills, learn about effective interaction with a professional accompanist, and become more polished performers.

As a result, NOVAA’s students develop well-trained voices and are recognized for their talent in our area’s local schools, churches, community choruses, and community theatrical productions. NOVAA students regularly score well at O.M.E.A. solo & ensemble competitions. Students from NOVAA have been awarded substantial scholarships at institutions such as Oberlin Conservatory, New York University, Boston University, Carnegie Mellon University, The New York Academy of Music and Drama, Kent State University, Arizona State University, and Columbia University (Chicago), to name a few.

ABOUT NOVA ACADEMY'S DIRECTOR AND
THE FOUNDING OF NOVA ACADEMY...

Ava Van Houte earned Bachelor and Master of Music degrees from Kent State
University. Her teachers included Mary Sue Hyatt, Boyd Mackus and James
Mismas (voice); Dr. James Stuart and Stephen Daigle (opera);
Dr. Richard Shindle and Dr. Theodore Albrecht (musicology).

A two-time scholarship recipient of Blossom Festival School, Ms. Van Houte studied with Mary Makower (Royal Academy of Music, London); Vance George (San Francisco Orchestra), Robert Page (Cleveland Orchestra), John Wustman (University of Illinois), Lorenzo Malfatti (Cincinnati Conservatory, Opera Lucca), Mignon Dunn and Neil Rosenshein (Metropolitan Opera), Courtney Kenney (Covent Garden) and John Haber (New York City Opera).

A seasoned concert soloist, Ms. Van Houte has appeared locally with the Akron, Alliance, Canton, Cleveland, and Cleveland Heights orchestras in major works by Bach, Handel, Mendelssohn, Mozart, Saint-Saens, Vivaldi and Verdi. Her strong dramatic presence has been featured in operatic contralto roles by Menotti, Purcell and Puccini. She has performed in and directed musical and theater venues from the Spoleto Music Festival in Charleston, SC to productions in Tallmadge, Stow, Cuyahoga Falls, Kent and Ravenna, Ohio, as well as in Pennsylvania, California and New York.

Mrs. Van Houte has over twenty years experience teaching voice, acting and movement techniques to students of all ages and abilities. Her teaching methods were founded at KSU, as a Graduate Assistant for the Music Education Division. In 1986, Ava Van Houte began coaching voice students and tutoring graduate students in Music History. In 1989, as a program assistant for the Kent-in-Florence (Italy) Music Program, she taught Opera History; presented master classes for American singers in Italy, and began teaching private voice.

After performing in Europe, Mrs. Van Houte returned to the United States, where she taught in conventional vocal music programs in northeast Ohio. As a faculty member at Mount Union College, she taught Applied Voice to music and theater majors and minors; she also taught through Mount Union’s Preparatory Music Program and Kent State's Community Music Program. Mrs. Van Houte maintained private studios in Munroe Falls and Kent for over a decade, helping many students gain entrance to college theater, vocal music and musical theatre programs. She came to see that what serious performers needed was a professionally-minded, comprehensive vocal music, drama and movement program that didn’t cost its participants a small fortune.

In 2001, Mrs. Van Houte founded Northeast Ohio Vocal Arts Academy in Hudson, Ohio to provide professional training for vocal performers age 12 through adult, without the high costs of post-secondary institutions.