Necessary Migrations: the Acoustic and Somatosensory Transitions of Range
Kenneth Bozeman, voice teacher and author on acoustic vocal pedagogy, will briefly review the acoustic landscape that all singers, regardless of genre, inhabit. He will then detail the migrations of vowel, timbre, vibrotactile and acoustic sensation we experience across range through a live demonstration lesson. Knowing, anticipating, allowing, and even facilitating these necessary migrations significantly improves laryngeal register transitions across range.
Anatomy and Physiology Overview
Tara Stadelman-Cohen, CCC-SLP, voice pathologist and singing health specialist at Massachusetts General Hospital Voice Center, will guide you through understanding anatomy and physiology as the foundation of technique across genres and how it serves to avoid faulty motor practice when singing. The four subsystems of voice and speech (respiration, phonation, resonance and articulation) will be outlined as related to singing function.
Breathing for Singing: One Way? No Way!
Tara Stadelman-Cohen, CCC-SLP, voice pathologist and singing health specialist at Massachusetts General Hospital Voice Center, will discuss “Is there a 'proper' or 'correct' way to breathe for singing?” Discussion and lecture will help with distinguishing respiratory facts from fiction, recognizance of the potential for an individual's variance, and acknowledgement of various genre requirements assisting effective breathing technique and subsequent singing artistry. A deep focus on respiratory anatomy and physiology, the ever-changing demands of breathing patterns when singing, will be addressed.
Teaching Musical Theater: Securing “Belt,” Mix, and Legit
Kevin Wilson, associate professor of voice and head of vocal pedagogy at Boston Conservatory, will discuss how to functionally train singers for the demands of a 21st-century Broadway career. Discussion will present standard and contemporary concepts around belt, mixing, and legit. He will discuss conceptual registration and demonstrate how to cultivate the voice as a whole to navigate the many aesthetic demands of the musical theater singer to keep your students singing for a lifetime.
Getting High: Exploring Belt and Falsetto Options in the Male Voice
Jared Trudeau, assistant professor at Boston Conservatory, will explore various approaches to developing a flexible approach to the middle and top of the male voice. He will describe a training agenda that addresses the myriad of vocal colors required of the singing actor in musical theater. He will provide various exercises for training the transitions between falsetto, belt, and legit so that students are comfortable in whatever styles are asked of them.
Registration and Acoustic Perception
Ian Howell, director of vocal pedagogy at New England Conservatory, will discuss an exploration of the historical, physiological, aerodynamic, and perceptual models used to conceive of registers in singing. This class will cover common language used today to discuss the registration phenomenon.
The Musician’s Mind: The Third Pillar of Voice Science
Given that pedagogy is defined as “the method and practice of teaching,” it is ironic that what has been missing from science-informed voice pedagogy—until very recently—is both the delivery system and the receptacle for information: the human mind. To be successful, a teacher must understand how humans learn. This question—how do humans learn?—is the essential one of cognitive science. Lynn Helding, voice pedagogue and author of The Musician’s Mind, has proposed a paradigm in all music pedagogy, in response to the cognitive revolution: a shift in emphasis from how well teachers teach, to how well students learn. This course will introduce the most essential elements from cognitive science to assist teachers in leveraging what they know toward how to actually train their students.
Teaching Mezzos and Sopranos: Building a Foundation
Patty Thom, chair of voice at Boston Conservatory, will discuss the development of a secure foundation in the young female voice through the presentation of a set of curated exercises. These exercises are designed to guide a young singer in accessing and exploring resonance, ease, and connection through the range of the voice. Drawing on a number of sources, these exercises take the singer through her full range, addressing an array of both technical and psychological considerations with particular attention to that special relationship between a girl and her chest voice.
Foundations of Voice Technique
Kevin Wilson, director of vocal pedagogy at Boston Conservatory, will discuss a process for voice development in a presentation and discussion on warming up, vocalizing, learning styles, ordering the technical aspects of singing, and understanding modifications necessary for honoring genre aesthetics. Wilson will break down the difference between prescriptive and discovery-based teaching and help you find a foundation with your students in a time-efficient manner.
The Singing Teacher’s Guide to Transgender Voice
Liz Jackson Hearns—author of One Weird Trick: A User’s Guide to Transgender Voice, coauthor of The Singing Teacher’s Guide to Transgender Voices, and cofounder of the Voice Lab, Inc.—will guide voice teachers through an interactive session to help you serve transgender and non-binary students. You will learn how to support your gender diverse students with appropriate language and care, learn to navigate repertoire choices for trans/non-binary students, learn to inform students about aspects of voice transition, and explore voice masculinization and feminization. Topics include cultural responsiveness, considerations for vocal repertoire, elements of transition relevant to singers, and techniques for gender-perceived voice. Ariel Zetina of the Voice Lab will join Jackson Hearns to conduct a live Q&A and offer insights into the information as a transgender woman currently exploring voice femininization techniques.
Natural Pathways: Conditioning the Classical Voice for Soul Expression
Based on extensive research, Soul Ingredients® is a teaching methodology created by Dr. Trineice Robinson-Martin to develop a singer-performer's musical style. This methodology shows students how to take their musical influences and models and execute the different components in a manner that is personal to the singer-performer’s own personal expression.
Exploring Vocal Legacies in African American Folk-Based Music Styles
More than notes, Black music is a music of liberation, expressed through life experiences and the cultural context of being Black in America. This master class, led by Dr. Trineice Robinson-Martin, will explore the roots of African American folk-based music styles, including gospel, jazz, blues, soul, R&B, to provide insight into understanding the sound, feel, interpretation, and function of the music within a culturally viable performance.
Comparative Pedagogy
Broadway voice technician and singing voice specialist Mike Ruckles will teach live lessons and host questions throughout a two-hour demonstration of his teaching process. Combining multiple modalities for teaching, Ruckles specializes in a healthy and transformative technique for both musical theater and contemporary commercial styles.
