Gokce Kutsal

Gökçe is an accomplished interior architect, acoustics designer, and musician whose diverse background has provided her with a high level of proficiency as an acoustician. She is the founder of SOUNTERIA, a UK-based design and consultancy company specialising in architectural acoustics. At SOUNTERIA, Gökçe utilises her unique blend of interior architecture and music expertise to ensure that spaces are designed for optimum sound quality at every stage. From 2017 to 2021, she also shared her knowledge as a lecturer at Bilkent University, where she created and taught a course on Architectural Acoustics.

In addition to her work in design and acoustics, Gökçe is an experienced performance coach and voice teacher with over 1500 hours of teaching and coaching experience. Her MA in Voice Pedagogy focused on helping artists and creatives overcome performance anxiety, stage fright, procrastination, and self-criticism. Drawing from her varied background as an acoustics consultant, university lecturer, singer, and former radio host, Gökçe helps her clients find confidence and enjoyment in auditions, on stage, on camera, and in the practice room.

Gökçe’s research on performance anxiety has been presented at academic events, including her MA Voice Pedagogy research on the delivery of Acceptance and Commitment Training by singing teachers, which she presented at The International Symposium on Performance Science (ISPS) in August 2023. She also previously presented her work on "Twanging on YouTube" to the British Voice Association (BVA) in 2021.

Her recent publication, Acoustic Spectrogram for Evaluating the Effectiveness of Acceptance and Commitment Training (ACT) as a Music Performance Anxiety Management Method in Professional Singers, explores a novel method for assessing music performance anxiety. The study highlights that while music performance anxiety (MPA) is a prevalent issue among musicians, the effectiveness of various management techniques, including the relatively new Acceptance and Commitment Training (ACT) model, has primarily been studied using subjective methods. Gökçe’s research contributes to this field by proposing an objective, acoustic spectrogram-based evaluation to better understand how ACT can help professional singers.

Research papers:

Kutsal, G & Winter, Debbie & Juncos, David. (2024). Acoustic Spectrogram for Evaluating the Effectiveness of Acceptance and Commitment Training (ACT) as a Music Performance Anxiety Management Method in Professional Singers. 10.25144/23656.