Course instructor: Dr Charlene Santoni
DipMus, BMus, MMus, PhD, NMT-AP
Charlene Santoni has been singing all her life and has dedicated over 20 years to teaching voice. In 2014, she was honored with the National Association of Teachers of Singing Voice Pedagogy Award.
A trained opera singer and classical voice recitalist, her career has included performances with opera companies, orchestras, and choirs across Canada and the United States. Some of her most notable engagements have been with Edmonton Opera, Pacific Opera Victoria, The National Arts Centre Orchestra, The Tanglewood Music Centre, and The Boston Pops.
Charlene holds a DiplMus in Voice Performance from the University of Manitoba, a BMus in Voice Performance from the University of Western Ontario, an MMus in Voice Performance and Pedagogy from the University of Toronto, and a PhD in Music and Health Science with a specialisation in voice from the University of Toronto. Her doctoral research focused on developing a singing-informed voice intervention protocol for children with hypernasality, with portions of her work published in several peer-reviewed academic voice journals. During her graduate studies, she also completed coursework in speech-language pathology (voice disorders, motor speech disorders, and structurally related speech disorders), which deepened her understanding of speech disorders in both children and adults. Additionally, her training in Neurologic Music Therapy® helped bridge the gap between traditional voice therapy and therapeutic musical voice exercises. This expertise contributed to her co-authoring a chapter on music-based speech and language rehabilitation in The Oxford Handbook of Music and the Brain.
Currently, Charlene teaches voice at McMaster University (Hamilton, ON) and the University of Toronto (Toronto, ON), where she also developed and teaches a course on Clinical Voice Pedagogy. She is an Assistant Faculty Member at The R.F. Unkefer Academy of Neurologic Music Therapy, where she lectures on singing-informed voice therapy techniques such as vocal intonation therapy®, therapeutic singing®, and oral & motor respiratory exercises®. She also co-authored the voice chapters in The Handbook of Neurologic Music Therapy (2nd ed.) for Oxford University Press.
Course Description
The purpose of this course is to develop advanced clinical knowledge in singing-informed voice rehabilitation. Students will learn functional skills to address the restorative, developmental, compensatory and supportive goals of clients with voice and motor speech disorders, using a clinical singing intervention.
Who is this course for?
This course is open to students and professionals with a background in singing voice pedagogy or speech language pathology/therapy that are interested in specializing in translational singing-informed voice rehabilitation.
Course dates
Tuesday 23rd March – Tuesday 4th May, 2027 (1pm – 3pm Toronto / 6pm – 8pm UK time)
7 live classes to attend
Early Bird Pricing
£545 non-members (usually £595)
£485.50 VHE members (usually £535.50)
12 places only!
No refund if the student cancels or withdraws. Please email admin@vocalhealth.co.uk if a payment plan is required.
The course is delivered as a blend of video tutorials and live learning via Zoom tutorials.
Proposed Schedule of Modules
- Module 1 Voice control and disorders: physiology, pathophysiology & standard treatment
- Module 2 Singing-informed therapy: rationale & theoretical framework
- Module 3 Singing logic & therapeutic music exercise design
- Module 4 Singing-informed respiratory therapy approaches
- Module 5 Singing-informed phonatory therapy approaches
- Module 6 Singing-informed resonatory therapy approaches
- Module 7 Singing-informed articulatory therapy approaches
- Module 8 Clinical Practice: case studies, psychosocial considerations & the way forward
Assessment for Academic Qualification
- Quiz
- Viva voce case study
Course Dates
Tuesday 23rd March – Tuesday 4th May, 2027 (1pm Toronto / 6pm UK time)
The course is delivered as a blend of video tutorials and live learning via Zoom tutorials.
All students will be able to access the pre-course video modules one month before the live classes commence.
Final class will run for 3 hours instead of 2 hours.
Learning Outcomes
• Develop advanced clinical skills in singing-informed voice rehabilitation (i.e., vocal intonation therapy, VIT®)
• Learn/review the basic mechanisms of voice production
• Understand/review the basic neural bases for voice production
• Acquire/review rudimentary knowledge of common voice disorders as well as neurological diseases that are associated with motor speech disorders, and how they impact the control of voice
• Learn/review the principles of assessment, diagnosis, clinical decision-making, and standard voice therapy intervention strategies for persons with voice and motor speech disorders
• Understand the rationale for singing’s inclusion in voice rehabilitation through literature review
• Learn about Vocal intonation therapy (VIT)® and how the task of singing can be used for clinical non-performance related outcomes
• Understand how to translate standard voice therapy non-music exercises into therapeutic music/singing exercises
• Learn to use singing knowledge to choose and develop client-specific exercises
• Explore the logic components that make up good singing exercises
• Learn how singing exercise voice gains transfer to speech
• Understand the multidisciplinary nature of voice care and one’s role on a voice care team
Rationale
• Singing assists with normalizing pitch contouring and prosody in patients with traumatic brain injury (Cohen, 1992; Baker, Wigram & Gold, 2005; Tamplin, 2008)
• Singing improves speech intensity levels and maximum phonation time measures in patients with quadriplegia and spinal cord injury (Johansson et al., 2011, Tamplin et al., 2013; Zhang et al., 2022)
• Singing improves speech intelligibility, speech naturalness and vocal range in patients with Parkinson’s Disease (Ramig et al., 1994; Haneishi, 2001; Tautscher-De Swart et al., 2003; Basnett et al., 2006; Elefant et al., 2012; Harris et al., 2016; Azekawa & LaGasse, 2018; Good et al., 2023)
• Dysfluencies are reduced during singing in persons with Parkinson’s Disease and Parkinsonian Syndrome (Kempler & Van Lancker, 2002; Van Lancker Sidtis, Cameron & Sidtis,2012)
• Dysfluencies are reduced or eliminated during singing in persons who stutter (Healey et al., 1976; Colcord & Adams, 1979; Andrews et al., 1982; Glover, 1996; Davidow et al., 2009)
• Rhythmic singing drives anticipation for initiating speech with an appropriate prosodic pattern (Palmer & Kelly, 1992; Patel, 2008; Johnson, 2014)
• Singing improves quality of life (i.e., mental and social well-being) for patients with Parkinson’s Disease and for older adults (Grape et al., 2002; Keeler et al., 2015; Kreutz, 2014; Good & Russo, 2021)
Essential Courses
Further Training
Scope of Practice
