Articles

You are a Speech-Language Pathologist who also holds a DMA in vocal performance. What led you towards a career as a CCC-SLP?

I was interested in also being able to work with people who had a voice pathology. While many singing teachers have the ear and the knowledge to help guide injured voices, the speech-language pathology degree is considered the “gold standard” by the medical profession to be able to do medical rehabilitation of the voice.
I am focused on helping singers, actors, and other professional voice users, recalibrate their vocal mechanics after a setback, as well as educating them about voice habilitation. I am fortunate to have worked in voice centers in New York and Boston that are patient-centered, and have had the opportunity to see some interesting cases. I learn so much from my patients!

Why is it important that singers have a speech-language pathologist as apart of their vocal health team (in addition to a voice teacher and a laryngologist)?

Since I have been both a singing teacher and a speech pathologist, I think one of the differences is that as a singing teacher, I helped singers go from a healthy baseline to enhanced use of the voice. As a speech-pathologist/voice specialist, I take a singer from vocal setback/pathology back to baseline. The SLP who is a professional voice specialist can also “interpret” for the physician, the patient and the singing teacher what each of the other team members means—often the same thing said with different terminology.
Singing teachers have made great strides in the past 20 years in learning the medical terminology, and in including voice science and medical courses in their conference offerings. And, there are more physicians entering the field of laryngology who have some background in singing or performing, so, overall, the communication is improving. The most important thing is that EVERY member of the team needs to be invested in what is best for the particular student/patient. The solutions are not one-size fits all.

You will be presenting at this summer’s LoVetri Institute for Somatic Voicework™, what can participants expect from your presentation?

I will cover anatomy and physiology, posture, breathing, myofascial release, vocal hygiene (including some myth-busting), how to do the teamwork of patient, SLP, physician, singing teacher and other providers, and I have a handout for everyone on “How to be a Good Patient.”

When did you first meet Jeanie LoVetri?

I first met Jeanie when I completed by training for speech pathology in New York and began working as a speech pathologist. I also took all 3 levels of Somatic Voicework™ – the LoVetri Method!

Please Check Out More from Dr. Chandler Thompson

Website: https://voice.weill.cornell.edu/

As a seasoned performer, having worked professionally in Musical Theatre in New York City, on national tours, internationally, etc., what do you think the important keys to success emerging artists must consider before embarking on a career?

(Photographed Below: Michelle Rosen in The Phantom of the Opera)

If you listen to musical theatre singers of the past, they had very unique and recognizable voices. They may not have had technically perfect instruments or in some cases any vocal training, but they could inhabit a song, some quite beautifully. I worry about the graduates of all the hundreds of musical theatre programs across the country now. They may sing well, but in this highly competitive market, what is individual and special about them that will make them stand out? They are all beginning to sound the same – are we training the individuality right out of them?
The other thing MT performers need to know is: acting first. Unless you are an astonishing dancer or a good dancer who’s content to stay in the ensemble, what performers on Broadway have always been and continue to be are actors first and foremost. If you’re being sent in for an agent submission or going to an Equity call, they just ASSUME you can sing (and you’d better be able to!), but they are looking beyond that for strong acting and personalization of the work you bring in. [Read more…] about Spotlight on Michelle Rosen

You recently took a sabbatical from your private teaching studio. What can you tell us about that experience and where it has led you?

I love teaching singing, but if I’m being honest, doing it for 15 years independently and then for the last six, building it as a business had taken its toll.
In June of 2018 I stopped teaching privately with the intention of returning back to my work in September.
What followed were some of the most uncertain and exciting months of my adult life. At first I felt quite lost with the time I had suddenly acquired, but after a while I was able to establish new creative habits around singing and music making. In addition, I traveled, studied, caught up with friends and just generally rested. [Read more…] about Spotlight on Davin Youngs

Jeanie has completed being in Toowoomba, Australia where she just finished teaching the first-ever LoVetri Institute for Somatic Voicework™ at the University of Southern Queensland. She was so grateful to have been joined by Brenda Earle Stokes as her faculty and assisted by Dr. Melissa Forbes, and Heather Keens, some of our esteemed Australian Somatic Voicework™ alumni, who all did a terrific job! Thirty participants, some of them reviewers, gathered to be apart of the first international LoVetri Institute for Somatic Voicework™. Jeanie is so grateful to all the participants for making the event such a huge success. We received some truly wonderful press, please click here to check out a wonderful feature from 7 News Toowoomba. [Read more…] about Greetings from Oz!

Your work as both a singer and pedagogue has spanned several continents; can you tell us about your work and how it has evolved over the years (i.e. the switch from musical theatre to jazz focus, etc.)?
Musical theater became my sole focus through high school and then at Boston Conservatory where I was musical theater major training in music, voice, dance and acting. It was a rigorous, challenging and all consuming program that taught me about all aspects of the theater and musical theater at that time. The program also provided invaluable experiences on the technical crews and as a director and collaborator. I did the summer stock, then small professional productions in the Boston area as well as two summers as a singing waitress on Cape Cod 6 nights a week. That experience certainly taught me that better vocal technique was needed to sustain my “Broadway” goal. I had a naturally strong voice and had had some good foundation with two “classical” voice teachers from the age of 16, both whom embraced musical theater and the reality of chest voice and belting, but at the end of one summer when I had no voice for two weeks, it was clear that too much singing and too much partying were not sustainable!! Luckily I had no vocal damage, but it was an important lesson learned. [Read more…] about Spotlight on Lisa Thorson

This January, you’re headed back to Toowoomba, Australia with Jeanie LoVetri for the first LoVetri Institute for Somatic Voicework™ in Australia, what can we expect from this institute?
This year is particularly exciting, as it is the second time Jeanie is presenting her full course in Australia. The faculty has a great chemistry and we each bring a different skill set to the table to support Jeanie’s work. Heather Keens is joining us this year and will be giving a Masterclass in Music Theater and Melissa Forbes and I will both be present on jazz and pop. We have a lot of repeat attendees this year, as well as friends, colleagues and students of former grads, so we’re going to have a lot of enthusiastic participants!

You’re also planning an Australian tour, can you tell us more details about that?
I will be performing shows in Toowoomba, Brisbane, the Sunshine Coast and debuting in Melbourne playing two shows at Paris Cat and one at Jazz Lab. It is important for me to try and make music wherever I go, so I reached out to get a few gigs booked. I had no idea I’d have such an enthusiastic response, so I have a full week long tour set up, as well as radio and print media interviews and articles. I can’t wait to work with some Aussie musicians! [Read more…] about Spotlight on Brenda Earle Stokes

This has been a truly wonderful year. Jeanie began 2018 presenting Level I and II to 80 Brazilian teachers and singers, hosted by Vocal São Paulo, and where the warmth of the Brazilians, as always, melted her heart. In February, she went to Kansas as keynote clinician for the NATS state chapter conference, thanks to the invitation and hospitality of Dr. Joe Perniciaro. [Read more…] about Happy Holidays To All!

You are a very busy voice teacher in Long Island; can you tell us about your private studio and your work at LIU CW Post?
(photographed below: Amanda Chmela performing in The Marriage of Figaro)
I’ll start with my work at LIU C.W. Post, where I am employed as an adjunct professor of voice within the theatre department. Our voice faculty is completely separate from that of the music department, and I have the opportunity to work exclusively with actors and dancers.
My private studio is extremely rewarding, as I have the opportunity to teach students of all ages interested in a variety of musical styles with wide ranging musical and performance goals. Some of my students sing only for their own personal fulfillment, others participate in the local theatre scene, many are interested in majoring in music once they reach college, and I am lucky to work with a few emerging professional artists. Currently, my student population consists mostly of musical theatre performers, though I do work with a few singer/songwriters and CCM artists. [Read more…] about Spotlight on Amanda Chmela

Dear Friends and Colleagues,

Heading into fall, Jeanie just visited the Washington, D.C. area. The teacher support weekend incorporated an open session on Friday night and welcomed auditors on Sunday afternoon. Those who are not familiar with Somatic Voicework™ were able to see Jeanie in action and speak directly with her.

We have also just wrapped up our two wonderful new webinars, Belting Explored and An Introduction to Somatic Voicework™. We are so grateful for the positive response to the courses. Please keep your eyes peeled for an announcement about our next wave of online courses being announced soon; if you’d like to be on the mailing list for early registration please click here. Belting Explored has participants from the USA as well as Sweden, Brazil and Canada. Participants have been sharing very favorable comments and are expanding their ears and minds on this sometimes confusing topic. The second webinar was our first online course that was open to anyone who is interested in learning more about Somatic Voicework™. This course will be offered again in the future, so if you are someone in that group or know another individual who is curious, please forward this email to them.
Many of Somatic Voicework™ teachers are back into the fall semester (in the USA and Canada) and using their vocal function tools with students in grade school right through graduate and doctoral students, in choirs and individually. Many are performing themselves in venues all over the world. If you are a Somatic Voicework™ teacher and you would like to let others know about you and/or your studio, please be in touch with our Newsletter Editor, Billy Gollner, here.

I am a massage therapist. I have created my own approach I call “Advanced Intuitive Massage.” I work with people to solve physical problems that stand in the way of their fullest functioning in life. These problems can appear as stress, pain, disease, loss of strength poor posture, and inability to do a desired activity. I listen to their description of the problem, I observe them, and I get some insight into how I will start to work to solve it. Once I start working, the process is like exploration, and I allow creativity to guide me to resolve the condition.

Whatever problem comes to me, I dedicate myself to finding a solution. I believe that solutions are available, no matter what the diagnosis. Progress toward the solution requires a mutual dedication to working together. Sometimes progress is quick; sometimes the progress develops over time. The first obstacle to overcome is the belief that no relief is possible or likely. Usually there is enough progress in our first session together to overcome that obstacle. [Read more…] about Advanced Intuitive Massage, by Peter Shor