Fundamental Anatomy

Dr. Jenevora Williams is a leading exponent in the field of vocal health and singing teaching. After a successful career in Opera, Jenevora turned her attention to investigating healthy and efficient vocal function. The combination of academic study and practical experience has resulted in a unique perception for understanding the human voice. She was the first singing teacher to be awarded a PhD in voice science in the UK, and won the 2010 BVA Van Lawrence Prize for her outstanding contribution to voice research. Her book, Teaching Singing to Children and Young Adults, has been enormously popular with singing teachers throughout the world. She is well-known for her imaginative and rigorous training courses for singing teachers in the UK, the US and Europe. As a teacher of singing, she works with professional singers of all ages, as well as training teachers in rehabilitation for Vocal Health Education and BAPAM.

Voice users from all over the world trust Stephen with their vocal recovery and rehabilitation. He has personally worked with Hollywood A-listers right through to World Champion Beatboxers, and owns the multidisciplinary VOICE CARE CENTRE in London’s West End. Passionate about professional development, Stephen has acquired a breadth of knowledge from his qualifications in Advanced Clinical Massage, Medical Acupuncture, Manual Maxillofacial Therapy, Spinal Manipulation, Anatomy (including human dissection) and Voice Pedagogy, and is now continuing his studies into Psychotherapy. As an advocate of health and wellbeing, Stephen co-founded the not for profit Vocal Health Education with Dr Jenevora Williams, seeking to educate every single voice user around the world on the subject of Vocal Health.

Lydia completed her four year BSc in Speech and Language Therapy in 2015, at the University of Reading. Lydia spent two years working with swallowing disorders, before undertaking comprehensive clinical training in Voice and Upper Airway disorders. Alongside her work at Voice Care Centre, Lydia provides NHS outpatient voice therapy as well as running the Joint Voice Clinic at Wexham Park Hospital, alongside renowned laryngologist Declan Costello. She is a trainer with the innovating Vocal Health Education and Vocal Massage Training UK. She has attended the Estill level 1 and 2 courses with The Voice Explained and has trained in Vocal Massage, Myofascial Release and further laryngeal manipulation, with Stephen King.

Kerrie Obert is a Speech Language Pathologist and Singing Voice Specialist from Columbus Ohio, USA. She has over 25 years’ experience as a voice specialist and is recognized as an international leader in her field. Ms. Obert spent the first 18 years of her career working in a busy voice clinic at The Ohio State University where she treated singers of every stripe and conducted thousands of laryngeal endoscopies. In addition to her clinical work, Ms. Obert taught voice at Capital University Music Conservatory and in her home studio. She is currently a founding partner of Integrated Vocal Pedagogy and Executive Principal of Get Vocal Now. Both of these organizations seek to provide evidence based pedagogy to improve voice training. Ms. Obert is actively involved in several research projects using MRI and endoscopic technology. She has written four books on voice and published numerous research articles.

Declan Costello is a consultant ear, nose and throat surgeon specialising in voice disorders (a laryngologist). He studied music at St John’s College, Cambridge, where he was a choral scholar under Christopher Robinson, and went on to study medicine at Imperial College. As a singer himself, he has a particular interest in treating voice disorders in performers. Having worked for ten years in Birmingham as a consultant, he moved to Wexham Park Hospital in Berkshire in 2018. He has published a number of books and has written many chapters, including the chapter on “Larynx” for the 42nd edition of “Gray’s Anatomy”. In the middle of 2020, at the height of the coronavirus pandemic, he helped to coordinate research on the perceived dangers of singing and aerosols. This research led to the UK government opening up performing after a prolonged period of enforced silence. More information can be found at www.voicedoctor.co.uk

Over the past 20 years, Robert Sussuma, MMus. and Guild Certified Feldenkrais® Practitioner has been a singer (countertenor, Early Music), voice teacher (all styles, voice-science-informed) and a movement educator (somatic learning specialist), but above all, he’s been an explorer, experimenter, inventor and integrator. He has brought together ideas from the Feldenkrais® Method, Evolutionary Science, Neurology, Experiential Learning, Psychology, Literature and the Arts to create a method for body/voice learning that allows anyone to develop their vocal skills to new and advanced levels while respecting their whole self and system. Visit www.vocallearningsystems.com for more info. Now, Robert, in addition to his interests and class offerings in body/voice learning is branching out to work more and more with the other wonders of the human experience in an integrated and transformational way. Stay tuned!

Chloe Spencer MOst, BA, MSc, AVCM. Following a varied career in music, archaeology, forensics, TV and finance, Chloe retrained and graduated from the University College of Osteopathy with a Masters in Osteopathy (MOst). With a background in sports massage, drama and singing (both in teaching and performance) Chloe has a unique insight into manual therapy for the voice. Her approach is both holistic and patient centred: she treats the whole person, not just the voice, and actively encourages the patient to engage in their own recovery through education and home-based ongoing exercises. Her treatments include standard osteopathic techniques of manipulation and soft tissue work, alongside more gentle interventions depending on the individual case. Chloe has also trained in cranial osteopathy with the Sutherland College of Cranial Osteopathy and breathing therapy with Dr Rosalba Courtney, and is interested in optimising breath and respiratory health for the voice. She currently works as a resident osteopath in a clinic in Egham, Surrey.

Kate A. Emerich, B.M., M.S., CCC-SLP, has specialized in care of the professional voice as both a Voice Pathologist and a Singing Voice Specialist for 28 years. She is also a Voice Instructor (previously at The University of Denver, Lamont School of Music and National Theatre Conservatory (NTC) and a professional singer. Prior to starting her own practice, she worked as a Voice Pathologist, Singing Voice Specialist and Researcher with Robert T. Sataloff, M.D., D.M.A., FACS and Ingo R. Titze Ph.D. at the National Center for Voice and Speech. She holds an undergraduate degree in Vocal Performance and a graduate degree in Communicative Disorders, both from from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Kate has written numerous articles and book chapters on professional voice topics and has served on the Journal of Voice editorial board for 25 years. She continues to be an active researcher on the biomechanics of breathing and phonation.

Born in Munich, Germany and raised between Germany, Switzerland and the USA, Barbara Tanze graduated from the Conservatoire de Lausanne with an M.A. in vocal pedagogy and classical vocal performance. After several years of concentrating on her operatic career, Barbara also explored and studied other vocal styles before discovering her passion for optimal breathing. Barbara has completed an advanced certificate in MDH Breathing Coordination as well as several other breath-related training programmes. She is an external consultant at Modern Vocal Training and a visiting lecturer at different institutions, including the Pacific Opera Company in Sydney, the Royal Academy of Music in Stockholm, the World Voice Teachers Expo and the Slovenian Institute for Rehabilitation. In addition to her work with singers and voice teachers, Barbara coaches amateur and professional athletes to optimize their respiratory biomechanics and physiology, both online and at her private practice in Slovenia.

Professor David M Howard FREng, PhD, CEng, FIET started his university career as a Lecturer in Experimental Phonetics in the Department of Phonetics and Linguistics at UCL (1979-1990). He moved to the Department of Electronics at the University of York (1990-2017) where he gained a Personal Chair in Music technology and was Head of Department. David moved to his current post as the Founding Head of the new Department of Electronic Engineering at Royal Holloway, University of London in 2017. David is a member of the External Affairs Committee of the Royal Academy of Engineering and of the Education and Skills Policy Committee of the Institution of Engineering and Technology.

Heidi Moss Erickson, is a singer, educator, and scientist. Noted for her “rich and radiant soprano” she has performed on national and international stages and garnered recognition in major vocal competitions, including the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions and the MacAllister Awards.
In addition to her musical life, Heidi graduated with a double biology and music degree from Oberlin and went on to obtain a masters in biochemistry with an emphasis on neuroscience at the University of Pennsylvania. For 7 years she worked as a research scientist at Rockefeller University and has several publications, including a landmark paper in the journal Cell detailing that the ends of DNA are looped.
Her interest in voice science came from her work in the lab of the late Richard Miller at Oberlin whom she met at age 17. In 2007, a rare cranial nerve injury sidelined her singing career, and both doctors and teachers warned her she may not ever perform again. Using her scientific background, particularly in how speech and singing is processed in the brain, she rehabilitated to return to the art she loves. She has applied these concepts and designed a novel pedagogy to train singers of all levels, including those who struggle with auditory processing, executive functioning, and PTSD. In addition to a private studio, Heidi teaches voice and vocal physiology at SFCM. She also gives lectures and courses on singing in the brain.

Bass-baritone Chadley Ballantyne has sung leading roles in productions of Rinaldo, Madama Butterfly, Falstaff, Don Giovanni, Così fan tutte, Le Nozze di Figaro, Elijah, The Pirates of Penzance, Cendrillon, Il barbiere di Siviglia, Sweeney Todd, Street Scene, Gallantry, and The Father in Neely Bruce’s Hansel and Gretel. His most recent appearances were in Opera Orlando’s productions of Le Nozze di Figaro and All is Calm. Dr. Ballantyne is a frequent guest speaker on the topic of applying vocal acoustic pedagogy for both classical and CCM techniques. He has presented his work at the 2017 Pan-American Vocology Association Symposium in Toronto, Canada, the 2017 West Central and Central Region NATS Conferences, the 55th NATS National Conference in Las Vegas, Nevada, the VASTA/PAVA 2018 Joint Conference in Seattle, Washington, the National Opera Association 2020 Southeast Regional Conference, and at the 56th NATS National Virtual Conference. He is a co-instructor at the Acoustic Vocal Pedagogy Summer Workshop held at the New England Conservatory of Music. Chadley is a contributing author to The Evolving Singing Voice: Changes Across the Lifespan, by Prof. Karen Brunssen. Ballantyne is Assistant Professor of Music, Voice at Stetson University. He has previously served on the voice faculties of the University of Northern Colorado, the Theatre Conservatory of the Chicago College of Performing Arts at Roosevelt University and North Park University. Ballantyne holds a Bachelor of Music degree from Drake University, and a Master of Music degree and a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the University of Illinois.