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Somatic Voicework™ The LoVetri Method

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Spotlight on Somatic VoiceWork™ Teacher Jamie Leonhart

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Somatic VoiceWork™ Teacher Jamie Leonhart talks about her upcoming performance and more!

You must be getting very excited for your upcoming performance of Estuary at Feinstein’s 54 Below (Tuesday, September 26th at 9:30 PM). What inspired you to write this story?

I’m so happy to talk with you.  And yes,  I amreally excited to perform ESTUARY at Feinstein’s 54 Below.
In a way, I backed into writing ESTUARY.  Soon after my son Milo was born I started feeling “different” about performing; I was having a hard time focusing as an artist, even while songwriting,  and it was very upsetting – as if my equilibrium was off and I couldn’t figure out how to rebalance.  I was functionally working as a singer, but not moving forward with my own music, and honestly, I was losing the sense of joy in performance that I’d had for so long.  [Read more…] about Spotlight on Somatic VoiceWork™ Teacher Jamie Leonhart

European Adventures, Huge Celebrations and LoVetri Institute 2018!

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(Photographed Above: Kate McGarry, Michelle Rosen, Robert Doyle, Jeanie LoVetri, Benjamin Czarnota, & Jason Aquila (collaborative pianist) at the faculty recital, LoVetri Institute 2017)

At the end of August and beginning of September, Jeanie attended the Pan European Voice Conference (PEVOC#12) in Ghent, Belgium, where she presented a workshop on belting. The conference attracts participants from Europe and a few others from South America, Asia and the USA (10 people from the United States were there). She has presented at past conferences in London, Florence and Prague. Prior to the conference she and husband Jerry enjoyed Ghent and Bruges, and after the conference visited Brussels. Next was London where she presented Somatic Voicework™ for 55 participants in London at Arts Education, a college in Chiswick. She was able to visit with colleague and friend Mark Meylan, a noted singing teacher in the West End, and to connect again with others in London in the voice community.
RIght: Jeanie LoVetri in Ghent, Belgium
Left: Jeanie LoVetri working with a participant at her workshop in London, England

Next up later this month is a visit to the DC/Baltimore area to do a Teacher Support Group and Teacher Training Day with Somatic Voicework™ teachers. There is also an open evening for those new to the work. 
     Plans are in the works for a return to Brazil and Australia and a possible return to London in 2018. Jeanie is also busy planning the 2018 residency for the LoVetri Institute next summer at Baldwin Wallace University. After this year’s great success, she is eagerly looking forward to year two with new guest faculty. The dates will be July 21-29, 2018, so mark your calendars and save the date.
     This month, we are so lucky to feature an interview with Somatic Voicework™ faculty, Jamie Leonhart. Jamie will be presenting her original show, ESTUARY: An Artist/Mother Story. The show is truly breathtaking and will be playing at Feinstein’s 54 Below on Tuesday, September 26th at 9:30 PM. To book tickets, please click here & enter the discount code: JAMIEL5. 
     We are thrilled for the success of Jamie’s work and her contribution to our community and the artistic community of New York City! Please book tickets right away, not to be missed!

 

Highlights from the 2017 SVW Institute and Residency.

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Accomplished singer, Faith Howard, blew us away with
her spirit and kindness.

Broadway Veteran, Melanie Vaughan, was kind enough to share her experience of
Somatic Voicework™.

Elise Besler tells us about her experience at the LoVetri Institute for Somatic Voicework, her thoughts on Dr. Adam Rubin’s presentation on vocal health & Thomas Murray’s musical theatre masterclass. 

Gina Razon, Soprano, discusses using Somatic Voicework in both a Classical and a CCM context.  [Read more…] about Highlights from the 2017 SVW Institute and Residency.

Off to Europe!

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Well, all we can say is “WOW!” What an amazing 9 days we just had at Baldwin Wallace University. We had a large group of people come from all around the world to participate in the inaugural LoVetri Institute for Somatic Voicework™, including people from Israel, Spain, Thailand, Brazil, and Germany as well as from various parts of Canada. We had great guest faculty, did lots of talking, laughing and eating (of course!) and we had a great time. Jeanie says she learned as much as the participants, which is always thrilling to her. She thanks to all who came, all who worked while there and everyone who thought about us and sent prayers and good thoughts. It was an energized and exciting event.
(Photographed Above: Jeanie LoVetri as a blonde rocker at the Faculty Recital for The LoVetri Institute for Somatic Voicework™)
Please check out our the social media pages (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram) where we posted photos from The LoVetri Institute for Somatic Voicework™. If you haven’t already, please join our Facebook chatroom to stay connected with Somatic Voicework™ alumni from around the world (click here).
Jeanie is currently preparing for her overseas travels where she will be presenting at The Pan European Voice Conference (PEVOC) in Ghent, Belgium on “The Confusion About Belting” in August and September.
Jeanie’s European adventure continues in London where she will be doing a weekend of Somatic Voicework™ at Arts
Educational Schools London on September 9th and 10th, hosted by Voice Workshop UK. Please click here to register for more information.
Upon Jeanie’s return from London, she will be doing a weekend of teacher training and support days in the Baltimore/DC area, September 22nd to 25th. For more information, please click here. Jeanie will be doing a similar series of teacher support & training days in Boston from November 3rd to 5th. To register for Jeanie’s Boston workshops, please click here.  If you are interested in hosting Jeanie to do a workshop or teacher training & support weekend, please let us know.
With so many wonderful things on the horizon, we are excited to welcome many new members to the Somatic Voicework™ community. Please keep us posted on any exciting adventures in your life, we would love to celebrate them in future newsletters!
(Photographed Above: Jeanie LoVetri celebrating the inaugural LoVetri Institute for Somatic Voicework™)`

The Effects of Inhaled Corticosteroids On the Voice

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It is hard to pinpoint exactly when I began to have problems with my voice.  I’m a lifelong asthmatic who has been on medication, and has received allergy shots since I was a child.  About five years ago I saw the first ENT who scoped my throat, and he gave me a diagnosis of reflux. He told me my vocal folds were red, and that I was dehydrated. I needed to radically increase my water intake, and avoid food or drink for 2 to 3 hours before bedtime.  I followed his advice to the letter.  My singing voice (I am a classical soprano) improved considerably, and I thought I had found the answer to a lack of clarity in my sound.

At this point I had been on inhaled corticosteroids for about 2 years.  The non -steroidal medication (Tilade) I had been on for years was discontinued in the U.S. and Canada in 2008 because it contained clorofluorocarbons (CFCs) which are bad for the environment.  Patients with allergic asthma were then obliged to use inhaled corticosteroids branded more effective and safe in treating allergic asthma.

Fast-forward another three years. I began to notice an occasional “falling out” in my transition, that place where a singer’s voice passes from chest to head register.  There was no cracking, just an audible “bump” or “dip” that felt unstable.  I modified the vowel, and avoided pushing my voice, singing very carefully in this part of my range.  I’m not sure when I began to notice it, but a pesky phlegm appeared that would not clear.  I suspected that it was my asthma, a logical explanation for the sensations I was experiencing.  Newer corticosteroids were on the market, and I was prescribed Dulera, a combined medication with both a steroid and a long-acting, antispasmodic medication (Formoterol). Four puffs a day were recommended, and I rarely missed a dose. [Read more…] about The Effects of Inhaled Corticosteroids On the Voice

Broadway & LoVetri Institute News

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    April has proven to be a busy month for Jeanie. She just visited Boston and Providence, stopping by at Wheaton College in Massachusetts in between. Jeanie was the guest clinician for the Rhode Island NATS chapter, gave an open session at Berklee College of Music and worked with teachers of her method, Somatic Voicework™ at Roger Williams University.

[Read more…] about Broadway & LoVetri Institute News

Spotlight On Dr. Claudio Milstein

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Dr. Claudio Milstein is a PhD laryngologist and LoVetri Institute Faculty

Thank you so much for meeting with us today.  You are the Director at the Voice Center of the Head and Neck Clinic in Cleveland, Ohio. Would you please tell us about your practice and your team?
I am the director of the Voice Center at the Head and Neck Clinic in Cleveland, Ohio. The Voice Center is one of the premier voice centers in the country. We have a team of ENTs, Laryngologists, and Speech Language Pathologists that all have expertise in voice. We also collaborate with other specialists that may be needed for a particular patient, whether it is gastroenterology, respiratory medicine, neurology, or any other health issue.
In our center, we see all kinds of throat related problems and voice problems. We particularly cater to care of the professional voice. Many of our patients use their voice professionally, whether they are singers and actors, teachers, lawyers, preachers or telemarketers, anyone who uses the voice as a means to make a living, which is pretty much everybody these days!
We have a recording studio in our voice center and we cater to recording artists. We do high-level recordings of their voices to compare the before and after effects of treatment. This studio is a nice performing space that allows artists to sing for an extended period of time in the recording booth. This really lets them do their craft in a way that’s more similar to what they do in real life, and not in a hospital room that feels alien to performers.
Our team is made up of professionals with a lot of experience and are some of the most recognized names in our field. It is a really great place to work.

[Read more…] about Spotlight On Dr. Claudio Milstein

Spotlight On Robert Doyle

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What was the biggest turning point in your career?
After completing my master’s degree in Voice Performance, I finally got my foot in the door teaching at liberal arts colleges. I started at Olivet College, then I joined the Voice Faculty at Albion College, where I still teach with fellow Somatic Voicework™ teachers, Maureen Balke and John King. I was teaching at so many different places. At one time I was on faculty at 5 different colleges and universities and had private studio locations in three different towns! A position came up teaching K through 8 in a parochial school where I also became the Minister of Music. Then in 2000, I took a full time public school vocal music position. The rest is history. I still teach at Albion, maintain a private voice studio, and am Director of Choral Activities and Theatre at Edsel Ford High School in Dearborn, Michigan. [Read more…] about Spotlight On Robert Doyle

April News

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Jeanie has gone back to work in her New York studio after 7 weeks away. Her workshops in Toowoomba (Australia), São Paulo, Santiago and Bogotá were very successful and she has been asked to return very soon to all those cities.
Upcoming in April are domestic trips. She is holding a free demonstration of Somatic Voicework™ at Berklee College of Music, doing a workshop and master class for the Rhode Island Chapter of NATS at Wheaton College and working with teachers of Somatic Voicework™ at Roger Williams College in Providence. At the end of the month, Jeanie goes to the Washington/Baltimore area to repeat the same plan. The free demonstrations are open to the public.

Around the World and Back!

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Jeanie is now home, reflecting on a series of delightful workshops, trainings, lunches and dinners, tourist visits and an enormous number of joyful events with kind, generous, warm and open-hearted people who took excellent care of her during her exciting world adventure.
After completing all three levels of Somatic Voicework™ training in Toowoomba, Australia, Jeanie (and Jerry Kaplan, her husband) headed off to Santiago, Chile, where she conducted a workshop for 68 people at the Escuela Moderna de Musica y Danza de Santiago de Chile. Somatic Voicework™ graduate Maite Solana, faculty at the college’s location in Viña Del Mar, was coordinator. They were joined by Dr. Marco Guzman (SLP), of Clinica Las Condes in Santiago, who served as a translator for the event. The evening was a huge success with Jeanie lecturing and then working in a master class with a variety of singers in different styles.
(Pictured Above: Maite Solana, Jeanie LoVetri, Dr. Marco Guzman) [Read more…] about Around the World and Back!