nysta March-April 2020 - Matthew Hoch · Her resume includes vocology internships at Mt. Sinai...

Vol. 17, no. 4, March-April 2020 NYSTA©

VOICEPrintsJOURNAL OF THE NEW YORK SINGING TEACHERS’ ASSOCIATION

March--April 2020

Spring Event: Workshop with Charlotte Surkin: Teaching Singing to Students with Vision Loss.............53

President’s and Editor’s Messages.......................................................................................................54-56

NYSTA Professional Development Program .........................................................................................57

Feature Article: Sensitively Addressing Mental Health in the Voice Studio by Ingela Onstad.........58--62

Feature Article: The Path of the Warrior—Expectations for the Learning and Teaching of Voice Acoustics by Nicholas Perna and Sarah Pigott.................................................................63-70

Book Review by Anthony P. Radford: Diction in Context: Singing in English, Italian, German, and French by Brenda Smith..........................................................................................................71-72

NYSTA 2020 Distinguished Voice Professional and DVP Roster.........................................................73

TABLE OF CONTENTS

53

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Spring Event

Workshop with Charlotte Surkin:Teaching Singing to Students with Vision LossSunday, April 26, 2020 3:30--5:30 PM EDT

Pearl Studios, 500 Eighth Avenue, New York CityFree for NYSTA members, students, and guests. Donations welcome.

It is likely that in the course of your career a student who struggles with vision impairment will enteryour studio, whether you teach in a university setting, a local music school, a private studio, orconduct a choir. As few resources exist for voice teachers who instruct those with vision loss, thisworkshop will provide much needed information to help teachers more effectively teach studentsthus challenged, based on current research and the presenter’s own personal experience teachingvision-impaired students.

Charlotte Surkin is a member of the voice faculty at the 92nd Street Y MusicSchool in New York. She had an article published in the Journal of Singingthrough the National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS) in the 2018September/October issue. In summer 2017, she lectured at the Conferenceat the International College Music Society (CMS) in Sydney, Australia. Hertopic was “Teaching Singing to Students who are Blind and Visually Impaired.”She also serves on the faculty at Marymount Manhattan College, and has beenan adjunct assistant professor at Westminster Choir College. Her resumeincludes vocology internships at Mt. Sinai Hospital with Drs. Peak Woo andLinda Carroll and at St. Luke’s Hospital with Dr. Anat Keidar. She has servedas alto soloist at St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York City.


PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE

54

Matthew Hoch

Preserving and Expanding the Deteriorating CanonI have been a fan of the literary critic Harold Bloom ever sinceI read his thoroughly engaging Shakespeare: The Invention of theHuman, which was published during my senior year ofcollege.1 That book paved the way for me to explore otherwritings by Bloom, including The Western Canon, which I alsovery much enjoyed, though I soon learned it was controversialdue to that fact Bloom’s list is primarily made up of works bywhite men in the European tradition: Shakespeare, Dante,Chaucer, Milton, Joyce, and others.

Bloom was an unapologetic, old-fashioned Longinian critic,who—according to himself—only considers the intrinsicmerits of a work when assessing its greatness; aestheticsplendor, cognitive power, wisdom, and strangeness are fourof his most frequently cited criteria. Rebelling against mostof the critics of his and later generations, he completelydisregards any biographical information about the author orsocial/historical context surrounding a literary work. In 2011,seventeen years after the publication of The Western Canon,Bloom defended his position on these matters:

I happily plead guilty also to charges that I am an “incessantcanonizer.” There can be no living literary tradition withoutsecular canonization, and judgments of literary value haveno significance if not rendered explicit. . . . Any literary criticwho issues a judgment of aesthetic value—better, worsethan, equal to—risks being summarily dismissed as a rankamateur. Thus the literary professariat censures whatcommon sense affirms and even its most hardened membersacknowledge at least in private: there is such a thing as greatliterature, and it is both possible and important to name it.2

I still love reading Bloom, but acknowledge that in the year2020, the idea of a fixed canon is not popular. The WesternCanon was written in 1994 and caused a stir back then, overtwenty-five years ago. Fast-forwarding to the present, we arenow looking at a country (and world) that is more diverse thanever. Surely works written by people of color, women, andother minority groups—let alone more diverse styles—must beincluded as we reconceive the canon of vocal literature in thethird decade of the twentieth century. I recently took a pagefrom the playbook of Sharon Mabry and began requiring eachof my students to program at least one set of songs (or an aria)by a woman composer on their degree-required recitals. It’snot enough, but it is a step in the right direction. In other

1 I have just learned of Bloom’sdeath on October 14, 2019, atthe age of eighty-nine. Hispassing inspired this editorial.

2 Harold Bloom, The Anatomy ofInfluence: Literature as a Way ofLife (New Haven: Yale UniversityPress, 2011), 17–18.

Vol. 17, no. 4, March-April 2020 NYSTA© 55

words, I agree with the prevailing enlightened opinion thatthe canon needs to be constantly reconsidered and expanded.

Canons, however, do have their value. What could be morecanonical than the Schirmer opera aria anthologies or thevoluminous Hal Leonard Singer’s Musical Theatre Anthologyseries? I remember lugging these books up to the top-floormusic library at Ithaca College and chipping away at listeningto all of their contents, placing a checkmark beside each pieceas I listened to it with score. I did the same thing with suchwonderful books as The Fischer-Dieskau Book of Lieder andPierre Bernac’s The Interpretation of French Song, the latter ofwhich I literally read until it fell apart. Today’s students don’tgo to these resources unless I press them. Their instinct is tolook online at websites like the LiederNet Archive (lieder.net)or the Opera Arias Database (www.opera-arias.com). Both areextraordinary resources, but they exhaust me because they arealmost too comprehensive. How is an undergraduate student,or any young or learning singer, to separate the “good” fromthe “great” without a musical Harold Bloom to guide them?

In addition, trying to predict which works from our timewill enter the canon is a fool’s errand. Sometimes writers areextremely influential in their time, and yet their worksultimately have not become canonical. For example, let’sexamine the history of music theater: the Ned Harrigan–TonyHart Irish farces of the 1880s and the Jerome Kern–GuyBolton–P. G. Wodehouse Princess Theatre musicals of the 1910swere quintessentially important to the development of theAmerican musical, yet these shows are rarely—if ever—revived today. Living in the present (because we have noother option) is therefore perplexing, because we cannot knowwith any certainty what repertoire we are performing willstand the test of time.

All we can do is our best, daring to cast our own aestheticjudgment when determining what music we choose toprogram and celebrate, looking for best representatives of theart form across all genres. Long after we are gone, maybe timewill reaffirm some of our choices.

“In great attempts, it is glorious even to fail.” – CassiusLonginus (ca. 213–273 AD)

I wish all of you a sublime beginning to your spring.

Sincerely,

Matthew Hoch, DMAPresident, New York Singing Teachers Association (NYSTA)

Gaius Cassius Longinius

Harold Bloom (1930-2019)


EDITOR’S MESSAGE

56

Anna Hersey

Volume 17, No. 4

Dr. Anna HerseyEditor-in-Chief

Dr. Loralee SongerAssociate Editor

Dr. Ian HowellAssociate Editor

John OstendorfDesigner

VOICEPrints

Dear Readers,

A big part of being good teachers is recognizing ourlimitations. With regard to the mental health of our students,we often tread a fine line and we risk giving advice that weare not qualified to give. Ingela Onstad, an expert on mentalhealth counseling for performers, offers some practical tipsfor speaking with students on mental health issues, and evenmore importantly, supplies information about when and howto refer students to additional resources.

One of the most gratifying parts of being a teacher for meis watching a student make the transition from student tocolleague. Nick Perna and Sarah Pigott have travelled thisjourney, and as such they are able in their article to shed lighton acoustic voice pedagogy from two vantage points—as boththe student and the teacher.

In addition, we have a review of Brenda Smith’s Diction inContext: Singing in English, Italian, German, and French. Assomeone on the front lines of teaching diction in the classroom,I’m always happy to know of a new resource on the topic.

Happy reading! As always...

Anna HerseyEditor-in-Chief


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Since its earliest years, NYSTA has sought to foster standardsin the profession. In the 1920s and 1930s, the organizationled efforts to require certification by the New York Stategovernment for all voice teachers. While state certificationwas never implemented, its intent came to fruition with theestablishment of our Professional Development Program(PDP). The program was guided by noted pedagogue OrenLathrop Brown, and spearheaded by past NYSTA PresidentJanet Pranschke. Thanks to the continued efforts of PastPresident David Sabella, online courses were developed in2007. Every year, the NYSTA board strives to bring new andinnovative courses to all who are interested in learning moreabout the teaching of singing, bringing the most up-to-dateinformation and filling the gaps that may be missed bytraditional pedagogy classes. Currently, 49 people have earnedthe honor of being a NYSTA Distinguished Voice Professional.

NYSTA’s Professional Development courses are led by topexperts in the areas of voice pedagogy and voice health. Thecourses are designed to give a well-rounded education to thosewanting to learn more about fact-based teaching of singing.After completing the five core courses (Vocal Anatomy andPhysiology, Voice Acoustics and Resonance, Vocal Health forVoice Professionals, Singer’s Developmental Repertoire, andComparative Pedagogy) and successfully passing the exams,registrants earn a Certificate of Completion and the honor ofbeing a NYSTA Distinguished Voice Professional. Congratula-tions to all those who have earned this honor!

NYSTA Professional Development Program

Study 24 /7 at your convenience. Startany time and receive four months of access.

NYSTA’s Oren Lathrop Brown ProfessionalDevelopment Program presents

SINGERS’ DEVELOPMENTALREPERTOIRE

ON-DEMAND LEARNING

Register at WWW.NYST.ORGFor information, contact NYSTA’s Profes-

sional Development Program DirectorFelix Graham at [email protected].

Judith Nicosia

David SabellaJeanette LoVetri

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This groundbreaking course establishesmethods and criteria for selecting

repertoire appropriate to different voicetypes at various stages of development.

All vocal categories in both classicalvoice and musical theater voice will bediscussed. The musical theater section

will also include a detailedexamination of contemporary pop/rock

shows and the vocal demands theymake on the singer, and will address

choosing appropriate character-drivenaudition material.

Vol. 17, no. 4, March-April 2020 NYSTA©58

Sensitively Addressing Mental Healthin the Voice Studio

By Ingela Onstad

An adolescent student walks into your studio for her weeklylesson. Over the past few months she often seems down andappears disinterested in the music that she once was excited about.She is distracted and seems fatigued. Occasionally she makesnegative comments about herself in the lesson and seems to bestruggling with self-esteem. Although you have a good rapportwith this student, she tends to brush off any inquiries you makeabout her well-being, denying that anything is wrong. Yourinstincts and experience as a teacher tell you that she is not beingcompletely truthful and you wonder how to best help her.

An adult student walks into your studio for his weekly lesson.He is enthusiastic about singing, but has confided that he feels alot of performance anxiety. You have observed that he oftendisplays physical symptoms of anxiety, such as appearing jumpy,restless, and unfocused. The student makes frequent, self-deprecating comments and seems to be very hard on himself.At his recent voice jury, he was so nervous that he could barelyperform and you were surprised that he decided to continue withhis major. You are concerned that his anxiety is more pervasive orserious than he is letting on, as he has not mentioned that he hasan anxiety disorder or is accessing mental health services.

Scenarios like these are not uncommon in the teaching studio,whether in private or higher education. Mental health disordersaffect a significant percentage of the population. According to theNational Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), an estimated 31.1%of adults in the U.S. experience any anxiety disorder at some pointin their lives, and an estimated 31.9% of adolescents (ages 13-18)experienced any anxiety disorder in the past year. Females areshown to suffer from any anxiety disorder more often than malesin both adult and adolescent studies.1 Depression statistics foradults show that 7.1% of all U.S. adults had at least one majordepressive episode, with the highest prevalence (13.1%) in theage group 18-25. In adolescents (ages 12-17), 13.3% were shown tohave had at least one major depressive episode, and females aremore likely to suffer from major depression than males in bothage groups.2

According to NIMH, suicide is a major health concern in thiscountry. It is the tenth overall leading cause of death in all agegroups in the U.S., and the second leading cause of death forindividuals between the ages of 10-34. Overall, suicide rates in-creased by 31% between the years of 2001-2017, with males beingnearly four times more likely to commit suicide than females.3It is a necessary yet challenging aspect of modern-day teaching thatwe consider mental health issues in our students in order to create

3 National Institute of MentalHealth, “Statistics on Suicide,”https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/statistics/suicide.shtml (accessedDecember 30, 2019).29, 2019).

2 National Institute of MentalHealth, “Statistics on MajorDepression,” https:/www.nimh.nih.gov/health/statistics/major-depression.shtml (accessed December.

1 National Institute of MentalHealth, Statistics on AnyAnxiety Disorder, https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/statistics/any-anxiety-disorder.shtml#part_155094 (accessedDecember 29, 2019).


an environment that fosters growth. Yet we must also realizeour limitations in helping students cope with said issues, andknow how and when to refer students to appro-priate services.While it is common within the realm of our profession to helpstudents with music-related anxieties or fears, we may beacting in a negligent manner if we are not addressing greatermental health issues that could be pervasive outside of thestudio as well.

How can we as voice teachers best support our students intheir mental health struggles? It can be tricky to navigate thesematters in the voice studio for many reasons. First, the NATSCode of Ethics states “members should maintain appropriateboundaries in psychological, emotional, and personal contactwith students…even when a student may encourage or re-quest such interaction.” (NATS, 2019, 2.02).4 In our profession,we are well aware that our duty is not to be a therapist, butto teach our students to sing and perform to the best of ourabilities. Yet oftentimes the lines feel blurry due to factors suchas the intimacy of the teacher/student relationship, our ownpersonal journey with mental struggles as performers, and theemotional nature of our artistry. To further complicate matters,it is within the purview of professional voice teaching to assiststudents with mental health tips and tricks as they relate toperforming or practicing.

But how do we assess appropriate psychological boundariessurrounding mental health in our studios? The issue is this: ifwe sense that a student’s progress is seriously impacted bytheir mental health, then we must address this issue if we areto help them grow and progress. Additionally, we often createwarm and trusting relationships with students and have adeeper intuition and knowledge about their well-being. If astudent’s mental state appears to be preventing progressover a long period of time, then we may no longer be able toeffectively teach such students until they access a higher levelof support and improve their overall mental and emotionalhealth. In order to best facilitate delicate conversationssurrounding mental health, we can look to communicationmethods from the field of counseling psychology for support.Empathy, reflection, normalizing, and gentle inquiry are basictenets of communication in the mental health fields. Theseskills can create greater ease and tact in interactions withstudents and can support teachers in their ability to assesswhether the students’ issues are best addressed by a mentalhealth professional.

EmpathyEmpathy begins with the ability to relate to a student froma place of acceptance and understanding and can create apositive environment in the teaching studio. Communicatingempathetically with students is a skill used widely in support-ive teaching studios, but is especially important to keep inmind while addressing possible mental health issues. Teachers

4 National Association ofTeachers of Singing, “Code ofEthics,” https://www.nats.org/code-of-ethics.html (accessed December28, 2019).


can be especially adept at empathetic communication due totheir own lived experience with mental health issues relatingto their craft. Empathy can be created by displaying attentive-ness, otherwise known as your verbal and non-verbalbehaviors.5 Good eye contact, a calm tone of voice, attentivesilence, active listening skills, and relaxed posture can all helpsupport empathetic communication.

ReflectionReflection is a type of neutral observation made without valuejudgements. A reflective statement might sound somethinglike “Jane, I’ve noticed over the past few months that youmake a lot of self-deprecating comments.” Or “Jane, you oftenappear very anxious during lessons.” Reflective statementsgive people feedback and a chance to hear how they appearto outside observers. Additionally, reflection offers people achance to confirm or correct the impression they are giving,leading to more clarity of communication.6 People who arestruggling with undiagnosed mental health issues are oftennot yet aware of their issues, and reflective statements canhelp them gain greater awareness by pointing out how theymay appear from others’ perspectives.

Normalizing StatementsNormalizing statements involve the recognition of universalkinds of struggle. A normalizing statement may be somethinglike “I know that performing often brings up a lot of anxietyfor students” or “I’ve seen many students feel very discour-aged from time to time.” Normalizing the situation can helpstudents feel less isolated in their struggles and underlinesthe universality of human struggle. As well, teachers are ina unique position to share our own experiences with mentalhealth as it relates to performing and we can also demonstrateour empathy through normalization by using personal examples.

However, we may need to go further in our support ofstudents by exploring possible greater mental health issuesand referral sources. After approaching a student using empa-thy, reflection or observation, and normalizing statements,teachers can use a line of gentle inquiry such as “I wonder ifthis (anxiety, fatigue, low mood) is something that is alsoaffecting you outside of the voice studio or in other aspects ofyour life?” If the student responds in the positive, it is a goodclue that he or she is experiencing more pervasive symptomsof anxiety or depression (or other mental health concerns) andthat additional support may be necessary. If the student identi-fies that the symptoms are only related to their craft, it maystill be a situation where outside support could be useful. Thiscan only be decided on a case-by-case basis. There is no defini-tive way to determine if a student needs mental health servicesother than that student accessing these services and decidingfor themselves. In this day and age, we are speaking aboutmental health issues more than ever before, yet stigma or lack

6 Mark E. Young, Learning theArt of Helping: Building Blocksand Techniques, 5th ed. (UpperSaddle River, NJ: PearsonEducation, Inc., 2013), 106.

5 Samuel T. Gladding, Counseling:A Comprehensive Profession, 7th ed.(Upper Saddle River, NJ: PearsonEducation, Inc., 2013), 137.


of awareness still surround these issues and their treat-ment. Teachers’ support can go a long way in continuingto normalize access to mental health services. Forexample, if a teacher is aware of other students that haveutilized therapy or coaching services, they can normalizethis with other students and share those students’improvements. However, it is extremely important tocommunicate this in general terms, without compromis-ing other students’ confidential information sharedwithin the confines of the teaching hour.

PitfallsThere are possible pitfalls that teachers should be awareof in broaching such topics. First and foremost, unlessa certain amount of trust exists in the teacher/studentrelationship, it may be wise to leave such conversationsuntil a later date. This must be determined on a case-by-case basis, but when in doubt, leave a little more time totruly get to know a student. They may be displaying signsof mental or emotional struggles due to the newness orunfamiliarity of the teaching relationship. Directlyconfronting their mental health may lead to a breakdownin communication. If we approach these topics too earlyin the teaching relationship, a student may becomedefensive or feel ashamed or embarrassed.

Certain lines of communication should be avoided, evenin positive and caring teacher/student relationships. Forexample, using phrases that contain “shoulds,” “havetos,” or “musts” can often be perceived as unnecessarilyjudgmental or accusatory (i.e., “you really shouldn’t worryabout this much” or “you must stop thinking this way”).Also, excessive questioning with too many “why” ques-tions can come across as an interrogation (i.e., “why doyou feel that way?” or “why do you think this is happen-ing?”). These types of questions may be appropriate incertain situations, but basic counseling psychology tenetssuggest relying first on active listening, empathizing, andreflecting students’ behavior back to them. If there is aneed to know more, a simple “tell me more about that”can be a gentler way to access additional information.

Most importantly, a responsible and aware teacher cancompile resources within the community to suggest tostudents or students’ parents. Most university or collegecampuses have free or low-cost counseling servicesfor students. Students can also access services in theircommunity (private practices, community agencies,hospitals, religious organizations) that offer counseling.There are often resources in the community that offer freeor low-cost/sliding-scale counseling services if financesare an issue. Many insurance policies include mentalhealth benefits that allow people to access counseling

7 Psychology Today, “Find a Therapist,”https://www.psychologytoday.com/us(accessed December 29, 2019).


services for the cost of a copay (or free for people onMedicaid). For more comprehensive information aboutservices in your community, you can use the “find atherapist” search function at the website “PsychologyToday.”7 Students can call the phone number on the backof their insurance or Medicaid card to find out moreinformation about their mental health benefits.

Crisis HotlinesCrisis hotlines (or “warm lines”) offer no-cost servicesto people in crisis. Hotlines exist primarily to deal withcrises; “warm lines” are for people who are just lookingto talk to someone. Many states also offer a state-centeredcrisis line (often called “crisis and access line”) that canprovide lists of resources to people in need of services.While it is impossible to know which type of services willbe suitable for a student, providing a list of a few re-sources in the community can set a healthy boundarywithin the studio and help the student recognize thattheir needs may go beyond the scope of voice teaching.Finding the right type of services is as individual aschoosing the right voice teacher, and often comes downto personal chemistry and a feeling of trust.

Despite our best efforts in caring, open communicationsurrounding mental health, we may still experiencesituations where a student shuts down or refuses toacknowledge that there is an issue. This may stem frommany sources: feelings of shame or embarrassment,cultural differences in dealing with mental health, stigmaaround accessing services, family pressure, and/or fearabout expressing problems openly. While this may befrustrating for the teacher, we must respect our students’choices about their own health, even if it is impactingtheir ability to grow in lessons.

ConclusionIn conclusion, the voice teacher/voice student relation-ship is a unique constellation that must be built on trustand caring. Although voice teachers may often feel likeconfidants or friends, we should never take on the roleof professional counselor to our students, lest we createtoo much dependency and step outside of what is ethicalfor our profession. It is up to each teacher to decide howto sensitively broach topics of mental health by usingmethods based in counseling psychology, especiallywhen it is apparent that a student’s progress is directlyaffected by their mental well-being.

Ingela Onstad has enjoyed a varied,international career in opera, concert work,and contemporary music. Highlights of herGerman operatic career include roles atDresden’s Staatsoperette, OldenburgischesStaatstheater, and Landestheater Schleswig-Holstein. Her concert career includes recentperformances with the Santa Fe Symphony,Klavierfestival Lindlar (Germany), DurangoBach Festival, New Mexico Philharmonic,Tulane Vocal Arts Festival, and the Mid-Columbia Symphony.

A champion of contemporary works, she hascreated operatic roles in two world premieresand performed diverse works by Schoenberg,Kurtag, Schwantner, and Berio, amongothers. She maintains an active private voicestudio in Albuquerque, NM and holds abachelor of music degree from McGillUniversity and a master of music degreefrom the University of New Mexico.

In addition to her active performing career,Onstad is a Licensed Mental Health Coun-selor (LMHC) and holds a master of artsdegree in counseling. She presents nation-wide on topics relating to mental health andperformers at institutions including TulaneUniversity, Colby College, University ofNew Mexico, Rio Grande NATS, Universityof Texas at El Paso, and Portland StateUniversity. With her business CourageousArtistry, she offers performance anxietycoaching for all types of performing artists.www.courageousartistry.com.


The Path of the Warrior—Expectations for the Learning

and Teaching of Voice Acousticsby Nicholas Perna, DMA and Sarah Pigott, MM

Since the advent of the personal computer and theproliferation of affordable spectrographic programs,interest in applying voice acoustics principles in the voicestudio has seen tremendous growth that continues toexpand. The voice teacher or voice pedagogy professorwho attempts to learn and teach voice acoustics canexpect to face many challenges along the way. At theVocalFri Podcast (www.vocalfri.com) we call this The Pathof the Warrior.

The authors of this column have spent the past five yearstogether in professional collaborations, as professor-student, professor-graduate assistant, and finally as re-search collaborators and podcast co-hosts. Additionally,Author 1 (Nicholas Perna, referred to as NP) has beenteaching graduate voice acoustics for over a decade. In thispiece we attempt to chronicle some of the experience andperspectives gained through our time of learning voiceacoustics, teaching voice acoustics, or observing otherslearn voice acoustics. Our mutual hope is if you havenever invested in the journey of learning applied voiceacoustics, that this column will inspire you. If you arealready planning to teach a resonance unit or an entirevoice acoustics pedagogy course, this column will providekeen insight into what hurdles await you.

The article contains content from both authors together,some from the perspective of the professor/instructor(NP) and some the student/learner (Sarah Pigott, referredto here as SP). Portions of the content of this article canalso be found in casual audio format on the VocalFri Pod-cast episodes “Learning the Path of the Warrior” (9/13/19)and “Instructing the Path of the Warrior” (9/20/19).

“Words, words, words...I’m so sick of words…”Before we begin to discuss voice acoustics, there are someterms that require clarification. First and foremost are theterms “harmonic” and “formant.” In a 2015 forum in theJournal of the Acoustical Society of America, a team of indus-try leaders recommended a clarification of acoustics termi-nology and symbology specifically related to voice acous-tics. 1 They recommended a change from source harmonic(even previously referred to as overtone) to oscillating

1 Ingo Titze, et. al., “Toward aConsensus on Symbolic Notation ofHarmonics, Resonances, andFormants in Vocalization,” Journalof the Acoustical Society of America137/5, (May, 2015): 3005-3007.


frequency of the fundamental. Harmonic sound is representedas multiples of the fundamental ( ), or 1 , 2 , 3 , etc.,which more closely reflects the mathematics of the fundamen-tal frequency times the factor of the harmonic.

The term “formant” has possibly caused as much confusionand debate as any voice related term, even rivaling “beltvoice,” “bel canto,” and “support.” Formant has been definedas “a peak in the output spectrum envelope radiated from themouth.”2 However, as the JASA forum suggests, and muchof our voice pedagogy literature cites, formant is oftenerroneously defined as “a resonance of the supraglottal vocaltract.”3 The former refers to a result after a Fast Fourier Trans-form (a mathematical process used to analyze the componentparts of a complex signal) 4 has been applied to the soundwave, and the latter refers to the resonant frequencies of thephysical tube shape of the vocal tract. These are two different,but related phenomena that have been utilizing the same termin voice pedagogy literature. The authors of the JASA columnrecommended a clear differentiation of the two, designatingformant as a radiated spectral peak on the spectrogram (F1, F2,F3, etc.) and the resonances of the vocal tract labelled ( , , , etc.) which better represent their physical reality.

“It’s Not the Destination, It’s the Journey”- Challenges at the Start

Anyone who has studied voice acoustics can relate to howdaunting the onslaught of information is at first glance. As thequantity of pertinent information grows so does the shockwhen first facing this subject.

NP: The greatest challenge varies from student to student.A scientifically-inclined, curious thinker may take to theinformation more easily than a student who prefers theabstract nature of learning that the arts often provide. For thelatter, getting past the vocabulary alone can be a challenge.However, the difficulty that I see most commonly is the desirefor immediate application during the process of learning.Seemingly abstract concepts take time to synthesize. The firsttime learning a voice acoustics model can require patience,because students likely will not understand the abstract duringthe process.

SP: Venturing into the world of voice acoustics is trickybecause to fully understand the beginning you need to havelearned about the whole model. Voice acoustics functionssomewhat like a circle in that there is no true beginning or end.As a result, whatever information a class begins with can beoverwhelming, but as you make your way through thematerial, areas of confusion become clear. In fact, by the endof the course you might feel like you finally have theknowledge to tackle the material you started with. In thissense, studying voice acoustics resembles the words on the

2 Ibid.

3Ibid.

4Eric W. Weisstein, “FourierSeries,” from MathWorld-AWolfram Web Resource. http://mathworld.wolfram.com/FourierSeries.html

o o o o

R1

R2 R3

64

f f f f

ff f


Snitch that Dumbledore bequeaths to Harry Potter: “I open atthe close.” Studying voice acoustics is a never-ending cycle oflearning new information and starting anew on the model ofthe voice as you know it.

“Wibbly-Wobbly, Timey-Wimey” - Staying Up-to-DateThe science of the singing voice is a continually growingbody of knowledge, which means that the content of a voicepedagogy course should have a similar evolution. As a teacher,deciding when to incorporate new information and howquickly this information can become dated can pose aconundrum.

NP: At the beginning of the course it is important to makestudents aware that you are providing them with the mostup-to-date information possible in that year. Typically, thisstatement is followed by revealing that if they take the coursein a subsequent year, the content will likely have been addedto or revised, even if just slightly. Due to the rapid rate ofchange, the course becomes less slanted towards contentmastery and replaced by the two-step process of where to findnew information and how to decipher and evaluate materials.As an instructor, it is important to stay up-to-date byresearching, reading, attending conferences, and participationin other continuing education such as NYSTA’s ProfessionalDevelopment Program or by attending one of the varioussummer voice workshops. That being said, even stayingcompletely current in a subfield of voice pedagogy such asvoice acoustics is a challenge.

In a recent conversation with colleagues who have beenexposed to new theories of exploring voice acoustics, I wasasked about teaching new models simultaneously alongsidetrusted models such as source-filter theory (SFT). Stayingup-to-date on acoustics is not the only function of theinstructor. It is your job to ensure that the material you areteaching has been adequately scrutinized by the science,pedagogy, and medical voice community. This is an importantpart of the process of peer review for publication or conferencepresentation acceptance. However, just because a paper waspublished or presented does not guarantee sufficient evidenceit should be taught. It is your job as a voice pedagogy professorto determine whether or not any information you are teachinghas been rigorously reviewed, and if the acoustic informationcan be made practical to a singing teacher. SFT has beendisseminated and explained enough to be succinctlycommunicated to singing teachers. There are new models indevelopment that are asking deep questions. Some of thosenew ideas are rightly challenging the status quo. Use apractical test for yourself prior to teaching any model forvoice acoustics. Try to explain that model to a non-singer inyour life. If they easily can re-frame the information you

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convey, you are likely ready to communicate that model toa class of singers or singing teachers.

To aid in the dissemination of information, I synthesize contentfrom several voice acoustics sources. In the second semesterundergraduate pedagogy course (where I teach resonance) wego the entire way through Bozeman’s Practical Vocal Acoustics.5I highly recommend this text for anyone’s first encounter withvoice acoustics, student or otherwise. A graduate voiceacoustics course is a different matter. In that course I teachmaterial from the Bozeman, Ian Howell’s “Parsing the SpectralEnvelope,”6 Donald G. Miller’s Resonance in Singing,7 JohanSundberg’s The Science of the Singing Voice, 8 and soon hope toinclude content from Julian Chen’s Elements of Human Voice, 9along with various articles by Ingo Titze and other notedfigures in voice acoustics.

One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Fried Fish - or - The Many Models ofSinging Voice Acoustics, Their Pedagogic Order and Inclusion

There are different models that could be used to approachvoice acoustics. The most common is SFT which can easily befound presented in pedagogy writings by Miller,10 Bozeman,11

or McCoy,12 the non-linear source filter model described byTitze,13 and newer models that include psychoacoustics andperception as presented by Howell.14 All three of these perspec-tives are being disseminated in the voice community andworth mentioning in a voice pedagogy class. Deciding how topresent them, in what order, and knowing which will be themost helpful can prove a challenge for the student or teacher.

SP: From a teaching perspective, the nonlinear source-filtermodel has proven to help with the demographic I predomi-nantly teach (middle and high school students). Many of thesestudents need indirect methods to produce clear phonation,and as a result, I use a lot of semi-occluded vocal tract exer-cises (SOVTE) to work with them. My students tend to betaking voice lessons for the first time and SOVTEs coax theirvoices to coordinate more efficiently without them having tofigure out how to do it. After the students have experiencedthat coordination, they often can recreate it for themselvesmore easily. That being said, concepts of non-linearity helpedme as a teacher to clarify the use of SOVTEs to improveconsistent vocal fold oscillation in my students.

In my own singing, different models have helped influence mysinging technique at different times. Recently the introductionof psychoacoustics to my pedagogic knowledge has provideda new perspective on my own singing that has forced me toreevaluate some of my technique. This new insight gave me afresh direction to take my own voice and helped me see newareas for growth. Specifically, separating frequencies using

5 Kenneth Bozeman, PracticalVocal Acoustics: PedagogicalApplications for Teachers andSingers (Hillsdale, New York:Pendragon, 2013).6 Ian Howell, “Parsing theSpectral Envelope: Toward aGeneral Theory of Vocal ToneColor.” (DMA diss., NewEngland Conservatory ofMusic, 2016).7 Donald G. Miller, Resonance inSinging (Gahanna, OH: InsideView Press, 2008).8 Johan Sundberg, The Scienceof the Singing Voice (DeKalb, IL:Northern Illinois UniversityPress, 1987).9 Julian Chen, Elements ofHuman Voice (Hackensack, NJ:World Scientific PublishingCompany, 2016).10 Miller. Resonance in Singing.11 Bozeman. Practical VocalAcoustics.12 Scott McCoy, Your Voice: AnInside View 3rd Edition(Gahanna, OH: Inside ViewPress, 2019).13Ingo Titze, “NonlinearSource-Filter Coupling inPhonation: Theory,” Journal ofthe Acoustical Society of America123/5, (May, 2008): 2733-2749.14Howell, “Parsing the SpectralEnvelope: Toward a GeneralTheory of Vocal Tone Color.”

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frequency filters in Voce Vista Video15 along with understand-ing the impact of Absolute Spectral Tone Color16 for filteredfrequencies helped me understand which timbres of my voiceneeded to be reinforced to give more overall resonance bal-ance. This new method of evaluating my own voice allowedme to recognize an area that was lacking.

Beginning with SFT first meant that everything after built onthat model; however, observing other students study themodels in a different order allowed me to recognize howmodels appeal to varying styles of learning. Source filtertheory and non-linear source filter theory both follow logicalsteps which appeals to how my brain organizes information.Other students more easily understood the psychoacousticsside and might have done better starting with their modelbuilt on listening and perception.

NP: Personally, I learned SFT from the mentorship and writ-ings of Dr. Donald G. Miller, the original creator of Voce Vista.17

Having been entrenched in an SFT world gave me a solidfoundation of examining specific interactions of vocal tractresonances and source harmonics. Having a bit of a nerd-basedpersonality, watching a spectrogram piqued my initial interestin this field, however I have not always found that studentsshared the same passion solely based on seeing a 3 :interaction on a G4 tenor [a] vowel, or seeing the bundling ofenergy created in a Singer’s Formant Cluster. Since not allstudents shared my visual interest in the spectrogram, as aninstructor I have had to find other ways to motivate studentsin this information.

An important step for building interest at the beginning of aresonance unit or acoustics course is getting the students tohear why these interesting voice phenomena occur. Teachingsinging is about the ability to hear. I have found thosestudents desiring immediate application can be momentarilysatisfied by hearing an important voice phenomenon beforeunderstanding the acoustics behind the noise. For example,if you hear a classical western tenor or baritone do adecrescendo, you will see an increasingly steep roll off inthe spectral slope during the decrescendo. If you filter out thehigher harmonics using Voce Vista Video the singer canimmediately relate the visual phenomenon to what they hear.Or similarly, if you have a soprano sing a G5-G4 scale andnotice the difference in the higher energy above 2 kHz, thenfilter that sound out and add it back in, you can see and hearthe contribution the higher energy is playing in the timbre andcarrying power of the voice. You can express that if a sopranowants to be heard in the hall over an orchestra that they willneed the high spectral energy of auditory roughness18 on theG4, much more so than the G5 where they started. Hearing thephenomenon makes it real to the singer.

15 For more information on thefeatures of Voce Vista Videosee http://sygyt.com/en/

16Howell, “Parsing the SpectralEnvelope: Toward a GeneralTheory of Vocal Tone Color.”

17 For more information on thethe original version of VoceVista see http://vocevista.com

18Ian Howell, “NecessaryRoughness in the Voice Peda-gogy Classroom: The SpecialPsychoacoustics of the SingingVoice,” VOICEPrints (May-June, 2017): 4-7.

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Due to the desire to gain student interest with hearingphenomena, I now begin class with material based on Dr.Howell’s psychoacoustics information relating to singingvoice perception. I then move on to vocal tract resonances aspresented in Practical Vocal Acoustics by Bozeman. Singers aremore comfortable with concepts of articulation (jaw, tongue,larynx) than they tend to be with words like formant.Presenting vowel changes (modification, migration, sub-stitution) and how vocal tract shapes make those changes inthe lowest two vocal tract resonances is the second step.

Finally, as a last step I move on to source harmonics,specifically focusing on how those source harmonics interactwith the lowest two vocal tract resonances to affect timbre,but also, how differing glottal configurations can alter overallspectral slope and how increased higher spectral energy above2 kHz impacts overall timbre. Typically, most textbooks beginwith harmonics. I have found that risks losing the attention ofthose who are turned off by math.

SP: I found starting with formants to be a good starting pointbecause it’s mathematical and felt very logical. My brainunderstands information that follows a formula which helpedme make sense of this approach. While formant is a foreignterm to most singers, the idea that the articulator shapeimpacts vocal tract resonances is very akin to vowelmodification/substitution/migration—a concept that everysinger has encountered. Starting with information that wasbased on something I was already familiar with helped makethe concept more accessible. Others could benefit fromstarting in a different concept depending on their own per-sonal learning styles. For experiential and conceptual learners,starting from sound perception did prove more useful.

NP: There is a plethora of additional material that could bepresented in a voice acoustics course. Dr. McCoy spends agood bit of his resonance chapter in Your Voice: An InsideView explaining the vocal tract as a resonance tube throughconcepts of wavelength resonators. I have taught this materialbefore and each time saw students lose interest in the overallsubject matter. Often the question with acoustics can be “howmuch science is too much science?” I find that presentingwavelength resonators is unnecessary to convey the conceptsrequired to use voice acoustics principles in the applied studio,and so for the most part, aside from the doctoral level course,I now avoid even presenting this material. As an instructor ifI feel a topic can have some appearance of applicable value tothe voice pedagogue it will appear in the course.

Tools, Toys, and TechnologyThe amount of technology available and marketed towardsvoice teachers and voice pedagogy teachers can make it seemlike a lab full of equipment is a requirement to teach voice.While we might all enjoy having access to an imaginary lab, it

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Dr. Nicholas Perna is AssociateProfessor of Voice and Voice Pedagogyat Mississippi College. He is a PresserMusic Foundation awardee andcurrently a voice research associate atthe University of Mississippi MedicalCenter. His primary research areas arelaryngeal manipulation and singingvoice acoustics.

Perna has presented research on threecontinents at notable events such asthe International Congress of VoiceTeachers, the Voice Foundation’sAnnual Symposium on the Care of theProfessional Voice, and the NATSNational Conference. Publicationsinclude articles in Journal ofSinging, Journal of Voice, andVOICEPrints. He served on the 2019faculty of the Singing Voice ScienceWorkshop, and this year joins thefaculty of the Acoustic VocalPedagogy Workshop at New EnglandConservatory.

In opera he has appeared withMississippi Opera in leading tenorroles. Symphonic appearances includeMahler’s Das Lied von der Erde,Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9,Messiah, and Carmina Burana.Perna is a 2019-20 semi-finalist forthe American Prize for men in opera.Along with Dr. Mandy Spivak, hecreated The Comprehensive BrittenSong Database. He holds graduatedegrees from the University of Miamiand the University of Houston. He isthe creator and co-host of the VocalFriPodcast, http://www.vocalfri.com.


is unfortunate that some technology comes with a hefty pricetag. Still, most program needs can be met with a laptop, speak-ers, and relatively inexpensive software.

NP: In order to adequately teach voice acoustics there are fewpieces of technology that are recommended. A laptop, Mac orPC-based, with Voce Vista Video installed is of paramountimportance. I cannot imagine teaching the course without it.I use both the Madde voice synthesizer and Voce Vista Video’stone generator for class. Voce Vista Video is available for areasonable price at http://sygyt.com/en/. Madde is freewareand available for download at http://tolvan.com. A reasonablequality pair of speakers is necessary. That said, speakers,microphones, and pre-amps are all an advantage when youare having singers record examples for in-class exercises. Forrecommendations on recording equipment specifications forvoice see Hunter et. al.19 and Svec et. al. 20

As previously mentioned, the availability of affordablespectrogram programs like Voce Vista partially led to theboom of interest in voice acoustics in the applied studio. Theinclusion of Voce Vista 3.x in Miller’s Resonance in Singing21

joined both useful perspectives and research on voice acousticswith the older version of the software. In 2017 I made theswitch from the 3.x version of Voce Vista (PC based) to BodoMaass’s new design of Voce Vista Video (VVV - both Mac andPC-based versions), version 5.x. We would like to recommendall users move to this platform of the software. That versioncombines Voce Vista with Overtone Analyzer, which wasMaass’s original program. VVV 5.x includes the ability to filterout or add back any part of the spectrum. The most recentversion includes a tone generator, similar to the Madde voicesynthesizer. but that is much more versatile. The program willsoon include the ability to capture video with your onboardwebcam or load a video directly from YouTube. There are moreuseful features in VVV Pro that include the ability for multipletypes of electroglottographic analysis.

SP: The ability to deconstruct a real human voice and hear itscomponent parts was groundbreaking. It so easily allowed meto hear and see the concepts we had been discussing in class.Not only could I see and hear examples but when thoserecordings were voices of people I knew personally fromhearing in various performance venues, it made the materialmuch more concrete. Additionally, it was eye-opening to usethis tool to dissect famous voices I admired and strove toemulate. Frequency filters may have the biggest pedagogicapplication of any available voice acoustics technology becausethey can change the manner in which voice teachers hearsinging. They can greatly simplify ear training as a student.

Practical Practicum PracticeA challenge of teaching any voice pedagogy topic is trying toresolve a balance of time. There is never enough time for

19Eric J. Hunter, JenniferSpielman, A. C. Starr, Peter S.Popolo, “Acoustic VoiceRecording, “I am seekingrecommendation for voicerecording hardware…,” Per-spectives on Voice and VoiceDisorders 17/1 (2007): 7-14.20Jan G. Svec and SvanteGranqvist, “Guidelines forSelecting Microphones forHuman Voice ProductionResearch,” American Journal ofSpeech-Language Pathology 19/4, (November, 2010): 356-368.21Donald G. Miller, Resonancein Singing.

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Sarah Pigott completed her M.M inVoice Performance and Pedagogy atMississippi College and now is thevoice instructor at Mount PisgahArts Academy. Her current researcharea is laryngeal manipulation whichshe has co-presented at Voice Found-ation. She has also co-presented atboth Regional and State NATS andwill be co-presenting on this topicat National NATS in Knoxville.

Pigott has performed with Miss-issippi Opera and also attendedSongfest and the Franco AmericanVocal Academy (FAVA). With Dr.Nicholas Perna, she is also the co-host of the VocalFri Podcast, yourweekly dash of voice science,pedagogy, and nerd pop culture.


everything in any course in any semester, and unfortunately,a practicum portion of a course is often overlooked. In anidyllic voice teacher training program, every unit mightcoincide with a month, or more, of practical supervisedteaching experiences. Having adequate time to learn appli-cation for voice acoustics principles is no different. If you arededicated to working practical exercises and teaching ofvoice acoustics into your curriculum, Bozeman’s KinestheticVoice Pedagogy,22 the follow up to his seminal Practical VocalAcoustics, makes a fine textbook for the practicum portion ofvoice acoustics.

TakeawaysVocalFri readily admits that a working knowledge of voiceacoustics is not necessary to sing well or teach voice well.There are colleagues all around us who do both very well andare not familiar with voice acoustics. There are portions of thisdeep material that we do not contend to know. A majority ofthose parts consist of more rigorous math than we are trainedto understand. Voice teachers should have more conceptualknowledge of the voice than a singer needs in order to instructother singers, including Fach differences, style differences, andgender differences. Voice acoustics by itself will not make youa good voice teacher. What a functional knowledge of voiceacoustics can do is make you a better teacher faster. Even aworking understanding of source harmonic interactions with can help you anticipate most timbral acoustic registrationshifts in all human voices. Even better still is a workingknowledge of the framework of singing voice perception,which can train the voice teacher’s most valuable commodity,your ears.

22 Kenneth Bozeman,Kinesthetic Voice Pedagogy.

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BOOK REVIEW: Diction in Context:Singing in English, Italian, German,

and Frenchby Brenda Smith

Reviewed by Anthony P. Radford

As a diction teacher, I struggle with the fact that stu-dents can easily find the IPA and translation for a songonline. They no longer take the time to look up eachword, learning about meaning, conjugation, and otheraspects of a foreign language in the process. As a result,students no longer delve far enough into the text tobring out the true meaning, and rarely seem to get agrasp of how to convincingly perform in a languagethey don’t necessarily speak. The textbooks I have usedover the years have had different views on how to goabout teaching students the sounds and symbols of IPAand how to apply them to poetic texts. As a discipline, Ithink we have always had a problem with taking whatwe are learning in diction and applying it to poetry, inits fullest sense. Since singing is something we do, notsomething we only talk about, it is the application of thepronunciation and grammatical rules (which sometimesconflict, depending on the source) during performancethat students find most challenging. When I first saw Dr.Brenda Smith’s new book I hoped it would offer someoriginal ideas about how to teach my course.

Dr. Smith understands that when we engage in the actof singing, it is an event that exists in the moment. It isnot an act during which the singer can think about anintellectual theory or concept. The preparation of theperformance must be so thorough that language, mean-ing, and intent become second nature. Dr. Smith pro-vides a clear process to make this so, and proves thevalue of “taking the slow way.” For each language, shebegins by asking the student to learn the relevant IPAsymbols, then moves through the grammar, and intopoets and composers and their works. This approachhas its eye firmly on the application of the “rules,” whileproving that there is a reason for doing this; becausediction lives inside an ecosystem of opportunity anddiscovery all within the wonderful world of poetry. Wewill become better singers if we know these poems fully,not just pronounce them well.

It is also refreshing to have a diction text that moves usbeyond the scholarship already out there. Students can

Brenda Smith


be confused by the variations among experts in the rulesapplied to any particular language. Smith chooses an inter-pretation (Grubb, for example, in French), identifies thismethod as the rules she turns to, and moves on. With mul-tiple options in French, German, and Italian in particular,Smith rises above the debate of how to pronounce thesounds by identifying a leading source and proceeding toapply those rules.

In method, content, and structure, Smith’s book represents arefreshing move forward in the pedagogy of diction instruc-tion. I would highly recommend teachers of diction to take alook at this work and apply it in their classes.

Anthony P. Radford is Professor ofVoice and Opera at California StateUniversity, Fresno, where he serves asCoordinator for the Voice Performancedegree and is director of the Fresno StateOpera Theatre. He teaches voice, opera,vocal pedagogy and vocal literature.His teaching brought him to Germanywhere in 2018 he coordinated a CSUSummer Arts course titled “RomanticLied in Germany” taking 30 singersto Germany to study with an interna-tional faculty at the Hochschule fürMusik in Trossingen.

He is a published author, a presenter atmany international and national confer-ences and a regular adjudicator withNATS. He served as the review editorfor the Opera Journal and on the Boardof Directors of the National OperaAssociation as research chair. His reviewof The Roscoe, a new American opera,was published in “Bootlegger of theSoul: The literary legacy of WilliamKennedy” (2018) by the State Univer-sity of New York University Press, aFestschrift to Pulitzer Prize-winningauthor William Kennedy.

Originally from Toronto, Radford holdsa BA in Political Science from YorkUniversity and a Master of Music degreefrom New England Conservatory ofMusic. He was an Othmer Fellow at theUniversity of Nebraska, Lincoln wherehe earned a Doctor of Musical Artsdegree.


NYSTA Distinguished Voice Professionals

Nikki Renée Daniels will be in the upcoming Broadway revival ofCompany, playing Jenny. She recently completed the Chicago run ofHamilton, as Angelica Schuyler. On Broadway she has starred in The Bookof Mormon and the 2012 Tony Award Winning Broadway Revival of TheGershwins' Porgy and Bess. Other Broadway credits include Fantine inLes Misèrables, Anything Goes, Aida, Nine, Little Shop of Horrors, Lestat,and The Look of Love.

Daniels made her New York City Opera debut as Clara in Porgy and Bess.Other New York credits include Martha Jefferson in 1776 at City CenterEncores! and Rose Lennox in The Secret Garden at David Geffen Hall.On television Nikki has appeared as a featured player on "Chappelle'sShow," "Madam Secretary," and "The Sound of Music: Live."

She has performed as a soloist with numerous symphony orchestras across the country and Canada,and at Carnegie Hall. She holds a BFA in musical theater from the University of Cincinnati, College-Conservatory of Music. Her debut solo CD, Home is available on iTunes and CDBaby.com. For moreinformation please visit nikkireneedaniels.com.

Catherine AksLawrence AlexanderAndrienne AngelTania ApelbaumMaria ArgyrosNancy BosAlan BowersBen CastonEnzo CitarelliNikki Renée DanielsJan Eric DouglasBarbara DyerJack EpplerCarol FlammAmanda FlynnEna FreemanRobin Lynne Frye

Candace GoetzHilda HarrisGrace HartKari HatfieldMatthew HochKatherine HoffmanPatricia KadvanTaina KatajaJoan LaderLayne LittlepageRosemary LohmannPeter J. LudwigNatasha LutovChristina MatulaBruce McClurgJosephine MongiardoBruce Moore

James Henry MooreFonteini MoschidiLili NehmanJanet PranschkeKari RaganBethany ReevesMichelle RosenDavid Sabella-MillsJane SeamanPatricia C. SheridanAjda SnyderJustin StoneyCharlotte SurkinDebra VanderlindeJody WeatherstoneAnn Marie Wilcox-Daehn

NYSTA 2020 Distinguished Voice Professional

nysta March-April 2020 - Matthew Hoch · Her resume includes vocology internships at Mt. Sinai...

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