July 22 – 24: Level I
July 25 – 27: Level II
July 28 – 30: Level III
Level Descriptions, Senior Faculty, Guest Faculty, Tuition, Housing and Travel
Somatic Voicework™ is a body-based method of vocal pedagogy that incorporates physical awareness, aural acuity, kinesthetic development and vocal freedom. It is supported by voice science, vocal hygiene and medical information. It promotes technical security, stylistic accuracy and personal satisfaction. It honors the wholeness of healthy vocal use and the individuality of every vocal artist. It was developed to address contemporary commercial music but encompasses all styles. Past participants have come from all vocal disciplines and nearly every state as well as 13 foreign countries. Participants have remarked that the work is different, new, unique, powerful, honest and open-hearted.
The three-tiered course of LoVetri’s method, Somatic Voicework™, is comprehensive but accessible to everyone from singers not yet teaching to those with decades of experience. Vocal function is clearly explained, and the exercises presented are designed to empower teachers to create solutions for a wide variety of pedagogical needs. Since 21st-century music continues to diversify, the need to understand vocal function, vocal health and voice science has never been greater, and new tools are needed to supplement those that were used for the past two hundred years. These tools are found in Somatic Voicework™. There is no special jargon, nothing to prepare, and it avoids any direct manipulation of the structures in the throat. It has the honor of having had 12 nationally recognized laryngologists as lecturers and four highly acknowledged speech language pathologists as faculty over the past decade. The training days are filled with information, demonstration and application balanced with camaraderie, networking and social interaction among participants at all levels.
LEVEL DESCRIPTIONS
Level I is called “Basic Application” and includes the following: introduction to functional principles of voice science and medicine. It guides singing teachers to enhance their own qualities as the “building blocks” of The LoVetri Method. It looks at terminology and at objectively describing vocal behavior. It also addresses attitude, intention and appropriateness of the interaction between student and teacher. Level I states that the teacher must have a clear intention for the vocal exercise when it is given. The teacher must know (a) either what is missing and needs to be added or (b) what is wrong and needs to be corrected, such that the student’s singing will somehow improve. It rests on vocal function, vocal health and on traditional pedagogy, but it is also meant to help singers be marketable. There will be a vocal health lecture by Dr. Claudio Milstein, director of SLP at the Cleveland Clinic. Its main objective is to instruct the teacher how to listen functionally, to hear aural distinctions and relate them to responses.
Level II is called “Advanced Application” and is largely devoted to exploring how singing exercises work, what they do and why. It examines the age, background and desires of the students and how those things relate to the teaching process. It enhances the teacher’s ability to evaluate the students in terms of vocal behavior and aptitude. In Level II, the teacher acquires greater skill in choosing exercises that are appropriate and adjusting them to meet the level of ability of the student at any given point. There is also greater exploration of the many CCM styles examining performance aspects that may impact vocal health. The main objective of Level II is understanding how to use vocal exercises functionally.
Level III addresses “Repertoire, Problem Solving and Voice Medicine”. It features a noted music theater expert from New York City, Thomas Murray, Music Director of many Broadway shows, who will conduct a master class in audition skills with chosen participants and Kate McGarry, Grammy-nominated jazz vocalist who will conduct a jazz master class. The medical expert will be laryngologist Dr. Adam Rubin from Detroit who treats professional voice users and is also a respected presenter and lecturer. He will lecture on voice medicine, surgery, medicine and vocal pathology. Level III also touches upon acting for Music Theater and provides an excellent and quick approach to teach pitch matching for anyone with that problem. It promotes interdisciplinary interchange, i.e., the need for fellowship with Speech Language Pathologists and Medical Doctors. It also supports the idea that teachers should acquire the ability to read, understand and possibly even undertake research of interest to those in voice disciplines.
SENIOR FACULTY
The senior faculty are both experts in the method and are excellent examples of how this work, which started out as being unique to Jeannette LoVetri, can be used effectively by everyone. They bring decades of experience as educators and vocalists to Somatic Voicework™ and understand the open-hearted philosophy which brings together science and art, pedagogy and personal expression, and a trust of the body’s ability to produce beautiful, authentic sound in any voice and in any style.
Jeannette LoVetri is founder and director of The Voice Workshop™, creator of Somatic Voicework™ and creator of the original course for Contemporary Commercial Music Vocal Pedagogy, which for 13 years garnered over 1200 participants from all over the USA and 12 foreign countries.The work is unique, practical and based on voice science, vocal health and vocal function. It has received rave reviews from vocal experts in every discipline and has had a significant influence on vocal pedagogy worldwide.
For 45 years LoVetri has delved into every aspect of singing as both teacher and vocalist. Her studies took her to the world’s greatest voice experts and through all manner of vocal investigation. Her work with laryngologists and speech language pathologists, and her broad base of experience teaching all levels of singers from beginners to international celebrities, has allowed her to develop an approach to teaching singing that is effective with all of today’s Contemporary Commercial Music styles.
Robert Doyle is an active performer and director and teaches Somatic Voicework™ The LoVetri Method, having begun his studies with LoVetri in the first SVW Summer Institute. He serves on the voice faculty at Albion College and is the director of choral activities and theatre at Edsel Ford High School in Dearborn, Michigan. Doyle works with a diverse clientele ranging from cognitively and physically impaired students, high school and college singers to performers in musical theatre and opera and independent recording artists and Grammy nominated blues singers. Doyle created SVW trainings Michigan and presented the first international Level I in Vancouver, Canada with LoVetri in May. He is a master adjudicator and clinician for the Michigan School Vocal Music Association and served from 2005 to 2010 as the governor of the Michigan district of the National Association of Teachers of Singing. Doyle holds a Bachelor of Music in voice performance from Michigan State University and a Master of Music in Voice Performance from The University of Texas at Austin, where he was a recipient of the Butler Award in Opera. He has also done graduate study at the University of Michigan. Doyle is equally at home in both classical and CCM musical styles, performing with various orchestras and theatre companies throughout Michigan. Visit Robert Doyle’s website.
Michelle Rosen teaches musical theatre majors at Tisch School of Drama, New York University and is assistant professor at Westminster College of the Arts. She is the senior voice teacher at the Grammy-winning Brooklyn Youth Chorus, and is in demand as a private teacher in her Brooklyn, N.Y. studio. She holds a master’s degree in vocal performance from NYU and received the Distinguished Voice Professional certificate from the New York Singing Teachers’ Association. Certified in Somatic Voicework™ The LoVetri Method since 2005, she joined the CCM Vocal Pedagogy Institute faculty in 2012. Michelle has enjoyed a performing career in musical theatre and opera and has sung folk music and with a rock band. Professional credits include various settings of “The Phantom of the Opera,” most notably playing Christine in the Lloyd Webber Phantom in Germany. Other credits include Aldonza in “Man of La Mancha,” Rosabella in “The Most Happy Fella,” Carrie in “Carousel,” Jeanie in “The Stephen Foster Story,” as well as leading roles in such operas as “The Medium” and “Dialogues of the Carmelites.” She has appeared in Europe, in New York venues, in regional theatres across the country and on National Tours, and twice had the honor of singing the National Anthem at Shea Stadium.
GUEST FACULTY
Adam Rubin, otolaryngologist, is the director of the Lakeshore Professional Voice Center in St. Clair Shores, Michigan. He graduated summa cum laude from Yale College with degrees in theater studies and economics. He received his medical doctorate from Harvard Medical School. Following his residency in otolaryngology-head and neck surgery at the University of Michigan, he completed a fellowship in laryngology and care of the professional voice under the direction of Robert T. Sataloff, M.D., D.M.A., at the American Institute for Voice and Ear Research. In addition to his clinical and artistic expertise, Dr. Rubin is active in voice research. He has been published in major otolaryngology journals and is a frequent presenter at national and international meetings. He is a member of the American Academy of Otolaryngology, American Laryngological Association, Triological Society and Michigan Otolaryngology Society. He has academic appointments at the University of Michigan, Michigan State University and the Oakland University William Beaumont School of Medicine. Dr. Rubin recently published “The Vocal Pitstop: Keeping Your Voice On Track,” available on Amazon. His passion for the voice is a life-long one, having been a professional actor and singer in musicals before he became a doctor. Dr. Rubin is making his second appearance as our medical expert, returning by popular demand of past participants.
Benjamin Czarnota originated the role of Mr. Webb in the world premiere of Ned Rorem’s “Our Town.” Other roles include Stanley Kowalski in “Streetcar Named Desire” with Cleveland Opera Theater, as well as Guglielmo in “Così fan tutte,” Schaunard in “La Bohème,” and Count Almaviva in “Le nozze di Figaro,” Njegus in “The Merry Widow,” Olin Blitch in “Susanna,” and Death in “Savitri,” with companies such as Cleveland Opera, Wichita Grand Opera and the Indiana University Opera Theater. Music theater roles include Emile De Becque in “South Pacific” with the Akron Symphony Orchestra, the title role in “Sweeney Todd,” Marcus Lycus in “A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum,” Freddy in “My Fair Lady,” and the Father in “Children of Eden.” He has served on the voice faculty at Baldwin Wallace for ten years and has seen students go on to perform lead roles on Broadway, First National Tours, and in many elite regional venues. Benjamin is proud to be a Level III certified teacher of Somatic VoiceWorkTM – The LoVetri Method.
Dr. Claudio Milstein is the director of the Voice Center at the Head and Neck Institute of the Cleveland Clinic. He completed his master’s in speech language pathology at the Medical School of the University of Buenos Aires in Argentina. He joined the faculty of the National Conservatory for Dramatic Arts, specializing in voice for stage, and care of the professional voice. He received his doctorate in speech sciences from the University of Arizona in 1999, interned at the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary at Harvard Medical School, and the Speech Research Laboratory, Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He joined the Cleveland Clinic in 2001. He is an associate professor at the Cleveland Clinic Lerner School of Medicine, and holds an affiliate scholar appointment at Oberlin College. He has been actively involved in the clinical management of voice patients for over 20 years, has authored numerous publications related to the human voice and its disorders, and is frequently invited as a lecturer at national and international meetings. Current areas of interest include laryngeal hyper-reactivity, functional voice disorders, upper airway dysfunction and care of the professional voice.
Kate McGarry has been recognized with six critically acclaimed CDs and a Grammy nomination for Best Jazz Vocal CD. McGarry is a jazz artist who brings authenticity and vitality to every song regardless of genre. The Wall Street Journal calls her “austere and elegant” and the New York Times pronounced her music, “astute and sensitive”. McGarry was named the #1 Rising Female Vocalist in the 2016 Downbeat Critics Poll. She currently performs in jazz clubs, performing arts centers and festivals throughout the US and abroad. As an educator she has taught at New England Conservatory and currently serves on the faculty of Manhattan School of Music. She has been interviewed on “All Things Considered” and has performed on “Jazz Set with DeeDee Bridgewater,” “Marion McPartland’s Piano Jazz” and a wide range of nationally syndicated radio shows. She is Level III certified in Somatic Voicework™.
Suzan Postel is a singer, former dancer, certified Pilates instructor, and founder of The Body Sings℠. Her diverse performing career has ranged from playing leading roles in musicals on Broadway, across the U.S. and abroad, to performing or recording with such artists as Michael Buble, Enya and Ben Harper. Suzan’s Somatic approach to teaching integrates the Pilates method and principles with elements from the Alexander Technique, Feldenkreis, Franklin Method, Ideokineses, Yoga, Thompson Bodywork, Physical Therapy, and Mindfulness Meditation. Suzan completed all three levels of Jeanie’s Somatic Voicework™ The LoVetri Method, and taught her course The Body Sings℠ in Jeanie’s post-certification program at Shenandoah Conservatory’s CCM Vocal Pedagogy Institute in 2015.
Tom Murray has been music director for many Broadway and West End musicals including the brand new “Anastasia.” He has also been music director for “Honeymoon In Vegas,” “The Bridges of Madison County,” “Nice Work If You Can Get It,” and the revivals of “A Little Night Music” and “Sunday In The Park With George” in New York and “A Little Night Music” (at the Chocolate Factory), “Parade” (Donmar Warehouse), and “Pacific Overtures” (Donmar) in London. He has conducted the premiers of “Anastasia,” “The Last Five Years” (New York, London), “The Glorious Ones” (Ahrens/Flaherty), “Loving Repeating” (Flaherty) and “Saturday Night” (USA), and has also been music director for “Parade” (US tour), “My Fair Lady” (McCarter), “Pacific Overtures” (Chicago Shakespeare), “Sweeney Todd,” “Passion,” and “Anyone Can Whistle” (Ravinia Festival, Chicago). He received his degrees at Northwestern University and is the recipient of four Joseph Jefferson Awards (Chicago) as well as The Garland Award (L.A.), the Barrymore (Philadelphia) and the Olivier Award in London for music-direction. Future projects include “The Connector” by Jason Robert Brown.
TUITION
Tuition: $395.00/participant per level.
Limited automatic payment installments are available. It is preferred that participants pay via credit or debit card through the online registration, however checks are accepted. Please call our office to arrange for this.
Recertification: Any participant who would like to retake a level is offered a discounted rate of $200 on that level. Please contact our office to obtain a discount code for your tuition prior to registering.
Housing and meals are not included in the tuition.
HOUSING & TRAVEL
On-Campus Housing
Limited on-campus housing is available on a first-come, first-served basis. Reservations for on-campus housing can be made online when registering for the Institute.
Rate: $75 per night/per person (includes linens, breakfast, lunch and dinner)
Off-Campus Housing
Room block discounts available at:
- Crowne Plaza Cleveland Airport: $99 per night with Group Code “BWC”
- Sonesta ES Suites Cleveland Airport: $95 per night with the Group Code “0721BWLOVE”, includes complimentary breakfast buffet
Airport and Institute shuttle service will be available for hotel guests. Those staying off-campus have the option to purchase a commuter meal plan ($21/day) which includes lunch and dinner at the University Union; breakfast is available for purchase at the Crowne Plaza restaurant and complimentary at Sonesta ES Suites.
Travel
The LoVetri Institute will take place at the Boesel Musical Arts Center, Baldwin Wallace University, 49 Seminary Street, Berea OH 44017.
Air Travel: Cleveland Hopkins International Airport (CLE) is located 3 miles from campus. Shuttle service is available to BW, the Crowne Plaza Hotel and Sonesta ES Suites.