Ottawa School of Speech and Drama (OSSD)
OTTAWA SCHOOL OF SPEECH & DRAMA
For almost 25 years, our school has been the premier location for speech and performing arts training for children and youth in the Ottawa/Gatineau region.
Founded in 1988 by Natalie Stern, with assistance from the National Arts Centre, the school was established with the belief that working actors, choreographers and theatre educators could help inspire and enrich the lives of youth by sharing their passion, creativity and knowledge of the arts. Natalie also recognized that these same artists could greatly benefit from the additional work income that would come from teaching.
As a result, OSSD is one of the largest arts employers in the region and the school is a nexus for performing artists and members of the community to learn from one another, work and create something magical together.
We are also the only drama school in the region to offer Speech and Drama examinations through Trinity College London. Like the Royal Conservatory of Music, Trinity offers a graded examination system to encourage and judge a student's performance skills. The Trinity examinations are the widest and most up-to date range of assessment in the performing and communicative arts and are offered in over 60 countries. They are fully accredited in the UK.
OSSD students learn specific skills such as vocal production, singing, movement, dance, sight-reading, language arts, text analysis, scene study, character development and aspects of technical theatre.
