Oklahoma City University : Bass School of Music

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Courtney Crouse
Assistant Professor of Voice

Email: clcrouse@okcu.edu
Phone: (405) 208-5342
Office: BC A340

Website: click here

For the past four years, Ms. Crouse has lived in New York City where she was a featured soloist with The New York Virtuoso Singers under the direction of Harold Rosenbaum, became a charter member of The Coterie, a New York ensemble dedicated to the development and performance of new opera, was a featured soloist with L'Harmonie des Saisons under the direction of Baroque Specialist Eric Milnes, and developed a thriving voice studio. Her students perform on Broadway, Off-Broadway, on National Tours and in Regional Theaters across the United States. In 2011, Ms. Crouse was a visiting lecturer at The University of Las Vegas, Nevada where she directed Madama Butterfly and taught opera workshop and voice.

During her tenure at Indiana University Ms. Crouse taught voice as an associate instructor and performed in several premieres. She sang the role of Victoria Corelli, a morphine-addicted mother, in the collegiate premiere of Bolcom’s A Wedding as well as Mrs. Gibbs in the world premiere of Ned Rorem’s Our Town. Ms. Crouse also portrayed Columbina in Busoni’s twentieth century opera Arlecchino, Josephine in H.M.S. Pinafore, and the Second Lady in The Magic Flute. Other roles include Susanna in Le nozze di Figaro with Opera Ischia in Italy, Musetta in La Bohème, and the title role of Carlisle Floyd’s Susannah. She was also a young artist with Fort Worth Opera.

Ms. Crouse, a versatile performer, is noted for being an accomplished actress as well as singer. At Heritage Repertory Theater she performed Sharon Graham in the Tony Award-Winning play Master Class. In addition, Ms. Crouse has also performed such musical theater roles as Amalia in She Loves Me, Anna Held in Tintypes, Anne Egerman in A Little Night Music, Connie Miller in 1940s Radio Hour, and the Step-Mother in Into the Woods. She was also in the critically acclaimed performance of Bernstein’s Mass as the Blues Singer at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, and she was the featured soloist with the Nate Sutton Jazz Quintet. Ms. Crouse is grateful for her beloved teachers, Paul Kiesgen and Carol Vaness, without whom she would not be the artist or teacher she is today.

Teaching Philosophy
My goal as a teacher: to inspire students to BE MORE, to be brighter, stronger, more alive, more passionate people than they ever imagined. This can all be accomplished through the medium of the arts. So much goes into understanding the vocal arts: language, culture, historical perspective, body awareness, theater, acting, understanding human nature, understanding your own weaknesses and strengths and committing to celebrating your strengths and working on your weaknesses. I consider teaching to be a high calling. I want to be the catalyst that causes students to strive to create music, art and theater at its highest levels.

I teach the individual student; I do not have a “cookie-cutter” philosophy. Each student has individual needs, and it is my duty to assess those needs and find ways to help them understand and work through their technical, physical or emotional barriers to freedom. I want my students to understand their instruments, bodies and minds so well that they can be safe and successful after college. This holistic approach to instruction engenders individual and artistic growth, and ultimately opens them up to the myriad possibilities in performing, in art and in life.