University of Kansas Vocal/Choral Pedagogy Research Group

The KU Vocal/Choral Pedagogy Group is proud to associate with the inaugural Health of the Voice Artist Midwest Regional Symposium. Come help us establish an interdisciplinary network to support singers, actors, and other voice professionals on August 3rd!

Attention ENT, theater, speech pathologist and vocal music friends: The KU School of Music is excited to present its inaugural Health of the Voice Artist Midwest Regional Symposium on Aug. 3. The event will include panels, research presentations and roundtable discussions. Registration info at: https://music.ku.edu/health-voice-artist-midwest-regional-symposium

We love hearing about the exciting things our graduates are up to. Congrats, Dr. Martin!

Dr. Alan Martin is an Assistant Professor of Voice/Music Theatre at SUNY Oswego. Originally from Scotland, he completed all of his graduate studies in the U.S., including 3-years spent completing his Ph.D. with honors in Vocal/Choral Music Education at The University of Kansas. Since graduating, Alan has been performing and teaching in the Kansas and Missouri area before entering into academia at SUNY Oswego in Upstate New York. Alan currently teaches applied voice lessons, music theatre workshop, and music history & literature courses at SUNY Oswego, as well as serving as director of the College Choir and music director for the annual mainstage musical production in conjunction with the Theatre department. Dr. Martin continues to build upon his research profile in the field of vocal and choral pedagogy as well as education and curriculum development.

Welcome to the 2018-1019 Vocal/Choral Pedagogy Research Group! After many research presentations at the regional (KMEA), national (ACDA, NAfME), and international (VF, PAMA, AMIS) levels over the last year, we're already hard at work with exciting new studies!

Research Group Alumni/ae Making A Difference in the Profession

Dr. Matt Schlonger, this year’s recipient of the Van Lawrence Award from the Voice Foundation and the National Association of Teachers of Singing, has been featured regularly in a variety of national, voice science-voice pedagogy podcasts and forums, including those sponsored by Every Sing, the Voice Foundation, and the Pan-American Vocology Association.

Dr. Amelia Rollings was recently elected to the Board of the Pan-American Vocology Association as its Membership Chair.

This summer's two-day short course Monday, June 27- Tuesday 28. A fitting end to the intense June summer session. Vocal-choral folks are welcome to sit in on any or all sessions without charge. This year we are especially pleased that each of our guest professors is a PhD alumna of our Group.

Our team had a great time at The Voice Foundation's Annual Symposium in Philadelphia last week and weekend. There was much to learn from many wonderful presentations from some of the world's leading voice scientists, doctors, speech pathologists, and vocal pedagogues, and also much to contribute with paper presentations of our own.

Here is a breakdown of the KU presentations from this year from current faculty and students:

Dr. James F. Daugherty, Cathy Crispino, and Evan R. Edwards - The Effects of Equidistant and Unequal Inter-Singer Spacing Conditions on the Long-term Average Spectra of an SATB Choir

S. Thomas Scott - The Effects of Tactile, Singer-Initiated Head and Neck Alignment on Postural, Acoustic, and Perceptual Measures of Male Singers

Alan J. Martin - The Effect of a Straw-in-Water Phonation Protocol on Acoustic and Perceptual Assessments of University Voice Students

Caitlin E. Teters - The Effects of the Monthly Menstrual Cycle on Acoustic and Perceptual Measurements Acquired From Trained Female Singers Across Three Months at Each of Four Distinct Phases: A Collective Case Study

Evan R. Edwards - The Effect of Wearing a Necktie on Perceived Phonatory Effort and LTAS

Congratulations to all of the above. Also further congratulations to former members of the Vocal/Choral Pedagogy Research Group who presented research at the symposium, including:

Dr. Kathy Kessler Price
Dr. Matthew Schloneger
Dr. Jeremy M. Manternach
Dr. Amelia Rollings

What a wonderful KU representation! And we are already looking forward to next year.

Are you excited for World Voice Day? We are!

Although we're aware it lands on Saturday 16th April this year, we're holding an open hour in our Vocology Lab on Friday 15th April to celebrate. Come by and try out some of the interesting software we have, and see a spectrogram of your own voice. Explore your voice through various applications - even games! You can also catch a peek of some of the cool equipment we use to research and explore the voice.

The open hour will be from noon-1pm.

Find us in Murphy Hall, Room 576. Come by, say hello, and have fun with your voice!

Our Vocal/Choral Pedagogy students displayed research posters at KMEA 2016 In-Service Workshop back in February this year.

Alan Martin presented Dosimeter Sound Level Measurements with Singers in Music School Practice Rooms: A Pilot Study.

Caitlin Teters presented Career Choice Influences of Undergraduate Voice Performance and Voice Emphasis Education Majors: A Pilot Study.

Evan Edwards presented The Effect of Wearing a Necktie on LTAS and Perceived Phonatory Effort.

A great time was had by the whole team, both presenting their research and participating in the workshop sessions.

Alan and Evan were also honored to be a part of the KU Men's Glee performance, which was a highlight of the musical performances on Friday evening.

KU Vocal/Choral Pedagogy Research Group in Newfoundland for The International Singing Network Symposium

Current Research Group members presented refereed research studies and lecture-demonstrations at the International Singing Network Symposium hosted by Memorial University in St. John's, Newfoundland, Canada, October 1-4, 2015.

Alan Martin, Ph.D. student in vocal pedagogy, presented Dosimeter sound level measurements with singers in music school practice rooms.

Steve Scott, Ph.D. student in vocal pedagogy, presented Acoustic characteristics of Xucurú vocal music.

Dr. James F. Daugherty and Caitlin Teters, MME student in vocal pedagogy, presented Why am I crying? Analyses of reactions to the audition performance by Only Boys Aloud for Britain's Got Talent.

In addition, Dr. Daugherty, Alan, and Steve presented a workshop on Pubertal changing voices: Making connections between research-based knowledge and pedagogic best practice.

Dr. Daugherty was honored to be among the International Circle of Advisors for the Singing Network.

KU Reunion in St. John's, Newfoundland, Canada

Whenever present and former Research Group members find themselves in the same place, it's time for a meal and some shop talk. Such was the case at the International Singing Network Symposium in St. John's, Newfoundland, Canada, October 1-4. Among conference presenters were: Dr. Melissa Brunkan, Dr. Sheri Cook-Cunningham, Dr. Melissa Grady, Dr. Marvin Latimer, Dr. Amelia Rollings, Dr. James Daugherty, and current Ph.D. students Alan Martin and Steve Scott. Rock Chalk!

We are excited to have two new Masters students join our Vocal/Choral Pedagogy Research Group this year! They are both specializing in Vocal Pedagogy, and they are already making a valuable addition to the team. it’s a pleasure to introduce them to you:

Caitlin Teters (BM & BFA) is a first year Master’s student in the Vocal Pedagogy track from Kansas City, KS. She completed a Bachelor of Music in Vocal Performance and a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Acting with a minor musical theatre at Drake University in Des Moines, IA. As a voice teacher, she has worked with non-profits that serve underprivileged and at-risk, court-involved youth, as well as maintaining her own private studio. She currently serves as the director of the adult choir at Holy Angels Catholic Church in Basehor, KS. As a performer, she has been seen on both opera and musical theatre stages. She will be singing the role of Mother in KU Opera Workshop’s production of Ahmal and the Night Visitors later this semester. Caitlin's research interests include affect responses to choral singing and the decision-making process of high school students deciding to major in music at the college and university levels.

Evan Edwards (B.M. Vocal performance) is a voice teacher and performer in the Kansas City area. He is a recent graduate of the University of Central Missouri. For 12 weeks in the summer of 2013 Evan studied voice, language, and culture at the Accademia Europea di Firenze. Evan is the recipient of the 2015 Quistorff Opera Aria Prize and has been seen on the operatic stage in several roles including Papageno in Mozart's The Magic Flute. In addition to teaching privately, Evan has been involved with the Education Branch of the Lyric Opera of Kansas City. Evan's research interests include self-to-other ratio in choir spacing and noise dosages acquired by pep band members during basketball games.