January-February 2018.Pmd

VOICEPrints Volume 15, Number 3 JOURNAL OF THE NEW YORK SINGING TEACHERS’ ASSOCIATION January--February 2018 TABLE OF CONTENTS Winter Online Event: Jennifer Hamady—Singing Onstage and in the Recording Studio..........................................................................48 ON-DEMAND LEARNING On-Demand Learning: Vocal Health for Voice Professionals.............48 Study 24/7 at your convenience. Start anytime and receive four months of access. President’s and Editor’s Messages.................................................... 49-51 NYSTA’s Oren Lathrop Brown Professional 2018 Events Calendar................................................................................52 Development Program presents America Sings Together on Martin Luther King Day 2018................53 Archive Reprint: The New York Singing Teachers Association: VOCAL HEALTH FOR A Brief History by Daniel James Shigo and Dora Ohrenstein...54-57 Feature Article: The Importance of Mindset, Relationships, and VOICE PROFESSIONALS Technology in Recording and Performing by Jennifer Hamady.....58-61 A detailed exploration of issues New PDP Graduate Ben Caston..............................................................62 relevant to singers and teachers of singing. Faculty lectures cover Book Review: Janice L. Chapman’s Singing and Teaching vocal fold injury and the Singing: A Holistic Approach to Classical Voice, 3rd edition mechanisms of voice pathologies, by Dean Southern.........................................................................63-65 their diagnosis, and treatment. This course provides information that will enable both new and established teachers to advise students on vocal hygiene, recognize the necessity of—and the appropriate time to WINTER ONLINE EVENT seek—medical intervention, to be familiar with commonly-used drugs Jennifer Hamady—Singing Onstage and in the for performers, and to be able to Recording Studio: Understanding the Relevant participate as part of the treatment team in the rehabilitation of the Psychology, Relationships, and Technology singing voice. SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2018 8:00 PM EDT Register through NYSTA website. Do you or your students want to be more free, joyful, and expressive in performance? Or improve the use of studio headphones and stage monitors, or know how to effectively communicate with your producers and engineers? Join Jennifer Hamady, the author of Hal Leonard’s The Art of Singing series, Dr. Peak Woo for a conversation on critical issues in the Register at WWW.NYST.ORG Jennifer Hamady vocal performance realm. She will also answer For information, contact NYSTA’s Profes- live and pre-submitted questions. sional Development Program Director Felix Graham at [email protected]. 48 Vol. 15, no. 3, January--February 2018 © NYSTA PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE Professional Organizations: Their Purpose, Our Identity, and a Saturation Point? Founded in 1906, the New York Singing Teachers Association (NYSTA) is the oldest organization for singing teachers in the world. 1 Back then, NYSTA was truly a one-of-a-kind enterprise. For most of the twentieth century, not a lot of other professional organizations for teachers of singing existed. The National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS) was founded in 1944, distinguishing itself from NYSTA as a much bigger operation and drawing its members on a national scale. For most of the twentieth century, I think it would be 1 For a more detailed history of fair to say that NATS was primarily a national organization for uni- the founding of NYSTA, please versity academics (an examination of the long list of NATS presidents read “The New York Singing and their respective affiliations largely confirms this), whereas NYSTA Teachers Association: A Brief committed itself to local outreach and live events in Manhattan. History” by Daniel James Shigo NYSTA was primarily a resource for the private studio teachers of and Dora Ohrenstein, which was New York City, and thus it lived in harmony with NATS because it originally published in the May- offered completely different resources and served a completely June 2006 issue of VOICEPrints different clientele. (Vol. 3, No. 5), and is reprinted in Times have certainly changed! Over the past two decades, NATS has this issue. made major strides in reaching out to the private studio teachers of the United States (and beyond), and NYSTA now has more academics 2 I would have never dreamed at in its ranks. NYSTA has also most certainly “gone national” since the that time that—a decade later—I Oren Lathrop Brown Professional Development Program went online would also become NYSTA’s first- in 2007. As a very young professor with a teaching job in Georgia, I ever non-NYC-based president, enrolled in these inaugural online webinars even though I was not but that is a story (and a chal- lenge… and an irony) that is living in New York—an activity that soon led me to be the first-ever probably best saved for a future “at large” NYSTA board member one year later. 2 letter. The increasing shift toward online events over the next decade has shifted NYSTA’s historic mission and purpose. Are we still a local organization for the private teachers of New York City, or have we become more of an online professional development resource? And if we have gone (inter)national, have we then lost our identity? Perhaps not entirely, but we have at least confused it and muddied the waters considerably. Another shift that has occurred over the past several decades is that we are no longer a “two-organization profession.” The Voice Foun- dation, which was founded in 1969 but has gained tremendous steam among singing teachers—including many NATS and NYSTA members—since Robert T. Sataloff took the helm in 1989, now commands considerable attention as the premier interdisciplinary organization of our profession, bringing together singing teachers, speech-language pathologists, otolaryngologists, surgeons, and voice scientists at its annual “Care of the Professional Voice” symposium in Philadelphia. 49 Vol. 15, no. 3, January--February 2018 © NYSTA In 2014, the Pan-American Vocology Association (PAVA) was founded 3 Vocology is defined by Titze as as an organization for vocologists, with Ingo Titze—the father of “the science and practice of voice vocology—as its first elected president. 3 habilitation.” Habilitators are professionals who “train up” And that is just the beginning. We now also have the Musical Theatre voice users to specific tasks and Educators Alliance (MTEA), Association for Popular Music Education exceptional vocal skills, such (APME), International Voice Teachers of Mix (IVToM), Institute for singing teachers, acting voice Vocal Advancement (IVA), and Vocology in Practice (VIP), to name teachers, and speech coaches. only a few of the many newer groups that have sprung up over the past several decades. There are also many other kinds of organizations that singing teachers join, such as those associated with particular methods like Estill™ or Somatic Voicework™, and there are still other professional development opportunities, like summer workshops and certifications, that consume our calendars and energy. Those of us who straddle other professions have even more organizations to join. As a part-time choirmaster at an Episcopal church, I am also a member of the American Choral Directors Association (ACDA), American Guild of Organists (AGO), Association of Anglican Musi- cians (AAM), and the Hymn Society of the United States and Canada. It is almost impossible to stay on top of my journal reading, let alone attend all of the respective conferences offered by these organizations. With so many options, professionals cannot become fully immersed in every single organization of which they are a part. There simply aren’t enough hours in the day. That makes all of these organizations—like it or not—in competition with one another, vying for their members’ attention and involvement. Busy professionals must pick and choose where they will spend their time and money, and they will gravitate to the organizations that serve their needs best and most effectively. Where does NYSTA fit in to this vast network? This is a profoundly important question to ask moving forward. Should we fully embrace our newfound identity as an online professional development “hub,” or should we get back to our historic roots as local organization with more live events, one that serves the NYC-based private studio teacher first and foremost? In an attempt to answer these questions and develop a strategic plan moving forward, I am pleased to announce that the NYSTA board of directors has recently formed a “rebranding” committee which will be chaired by NYSTA past-president David Sabella-Mills. The committee will also include Josephine Mongiardo (NYSTA past-president, 2004– 2008), Felix Graham (PDP director), Diane Aragona (social media chair), and me as ex-officio. If you have any thoughts on this extremely important matter, please share your ideas with us as soon as possible. Remember that NYSTA is your organization, so please do not hesitate to contact me ([email protected]) with any questions, concerns, or ideas that you may have pertaining to anything NYSTA-related. I invite your help and input as we work toward an exciting pedagogic future. Sincerely, Matthew Hoch, DMA President, New York Singing Teachers Association (NYSTA) 50 Vol. 15, no. 3, January--February 2018 © NYSTA EDITOR’S MESSAGE Dear colleagues, For voice teachers, December is often a whirlwind—preparing our students

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