By Katie Soenke
Special to Springs Scene

For three weeks this summer, Colorado Springs will become a training ground for the next generation of opera and musical theater performers.

Opera Theatre of the Rockies’ 2026 Vocal Arts Festival, held in collaboration with Colorado College, brings young singers and developing artists to campus for intensive study in voice, movement, scene work, diction, acting and career preparation.

The festival culminates in three public performances at Packard Hall, giving local audiences a chance to hear singers who may one day be, and some who already are, performing on major stages around the world.

For Steve LaCosse, artistic director of The Opera Theatre of the Rockies’ Vocal Arts Festival, who has been part of the program since its beginning in 1997, the work is both serious and deeply personal.

“I can’t remember a time when I didn’t want to be a musician,” he said. “My mother tells me I wanted a piano before I wanted anything else from the time I was three.”

LaCosse got that piano at age 6, began singing on stage as a child, and eventually earned four degrees in music — three in voice and one in opera stage direction. Today, he teaches at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts and returns to Colorado Springs to help guide singers through what he calls a lifelong pursuit.

This year, the festival drew 35 applicants. Twenty-two were accepted, and 20 are expected to attend. Applicants submit a resume, cover letter, headshot and two singing samples — one classical and one musical theater — along with information about their musicianship and studies.

The program attracts singers from a wide range of ages, backgrounds and goals. Some are college students preparing for professional careers. Others are singers who may teach, perform regionally or simply want to spend three weeks growing as artists.

“There are many ways to be a singer,” LaCosse said. “It doesn’t have to be the Met. It can be a regional singer, it can be a teaching singer.”

That message is part of what makes the festival valuable. “The training is demanding, but it is not only about producing future stars. It is also about helping singers become better colleagues, better performers and more confident artists,” LaCosse said

Opera singers, LaCrosse said, face a particularly complex art form. They must learn to sing, act, memorize, move, understand style and communicate in multiple languages. The main languages in opera include Italian, French, German and English.

“There’s language study, there’s diction study,” he said. “It’s a lot to be a singer.”

During the festival, students can focus on that work without the distractions of a regular school semester. A young singer may be handed a German scene, for example, and coached through the language, acting and music in a concentrated way.

The public performances are designed to be approachable for the community. LaCosse described them as family-friendly and generally “PG.” Audiences will hear opera scenes, musical theater selections and a finale concert, all performed by artists in the middle of an intense creative stretch.

The 2026 festival includes “Let’s Make a Scene” on July 19, “The Scene Stealers” on July 26 and the “Festival Finale” on July 31 at Packard Hall.

For LaCosse, the heart of the work is watching singers grow — sometimes over several summers.

“The best part is when you’re working with a young student, you can see when a light goes on,” he said.

He also tries to teach patience: “A career in the arts, he said, is not instant. Singers build their instrument while learning to use it, and the human voice changes with the body over time.”

“We’re the only musician in the world that builds the instrument while we’re learning how to play it,” he said.

That is why the festival is about more than polished performances. It is about planting seeds.

“I’m only going to be part of that journey,” LaCosse said. “But whatever part of that journey I am, I’m happy to be a part of it.”

IF YOU GO

What: Vocal Arts Festival

When: 3 p.m. Sunday, 3 p.m. July 26 and 7 p.m. July 31

Where: Packard Hall, Colorado College, 5 W. Cache La Poudre St.

Price: Festival pass is $80; operatheatreoftherockies.org