Thomas H. Schleis

Lecturer of Opera Studies

B.M. (piano), Lawrence University; M.M. (musicology), University of Wisconsin; additional advanced study at the University of Illinois; recipient of a Fulbright grant for study at the Georg-August University in Göttingen, Germany

Thomas H. Schleis has been a faculty member at the University of Illinois School of Music since 1981. As vocal coach for the School of Music Opera Program since 1987, he has been involved with vocal direction, musical preparation, audience outreach, and educational activities, and has conducted The Three-Penny Opera from the piano. Professor Schleis has also been affiliated with the Department of Theatre, serving as musical consultant and teaching classes in musical theatre. His activities have taken him to Europe as well as the Lake George Opera Festival and Opera Augusta. Professor Schleis holds degrees from Lawrence University and the University of Wisconsin at Madison. He has completed advanced study at the University of Illinois studied at the Georg-August University in Goettingen, Germany, on a Fulbright grant. His recording, The Joyce of Music, was published by the University of Illinois Press.  Professor Schleis serves as program annotator for the School of Music Opera Program and for Sinfonia da Camera. Since 1975, he has been organist at St. John’s Catholic Chapel in Champaign, and he accompanied the St. John’s Choir on its 1994 tour to Italy for performances at St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome and the Basilica of St. Francis in Assisi. Professor Schleis also serves as dean of the East-Central Illinois Chapter of the American Guild of Organists.

My teaching philosophy is to train the complete singing artist, one who is conversant with all aspects of operatic study, such as history, performance, diction, coaching, and stage craft. In my coaching, I encourage the student to go “beyond the page” and explore, in detail, the circumstances surrounding the composition of an opera; to develop a biography of the character; to study art history, theatre history, as well as music history. I encourage the student to take classes in the standard languages of singing. Much of what I do in the studio is reflected in our productions and workshop activities. While our mainstage productions often feature works from the standard repertoire, in our opera workshop we often present scenes