Research Interests: Voice pedagogy, voice acoustics, voice physiology, psychology of performance, motor learning, vocal literature
Accepting mentees: Yes (3)
Biography
John Nix is Professor of Voice and Voice Pedagogy and chair of the voice area at the University of Texas at San Antonio. His mentors include Barbara Doscher (singing, pedagogy) and Ingo Titze (voice science). Current and former students have sung with the Santa Fe, Arizona, Chautauqua, St. Louis, Nevada, Omaha, Utah Festival, and San Antonio opera companies, and two have served as NATS Intern Program Master Teachers. In addition to his active voice teaching studio, he performs research in voice pedagogy, literature, and acoustics, having produced 50 published articles and 8 book chapters; he also co-chairs the NATS Voice Science Advisory Committee, serves on The Journal of Singing’s editorial board, and serves on the Rowman and Littlefield/NATS book editorial board. Mr. Nix is editor and annotator of From Studio to Stage: Repertoire for the Voice (Scarecrow, 2002), vocal music editor for the Oxford Handbook of Music Education (Oxford University Press, 2012), one of three general editors for the Oxford Handbook of Singing (Oxford University Press, 2019), and co-editor of the forthcoming Oxford Handbook of Voice Pedagogy (Oxford University Press, 2025).
Qualifications
August 2000 Certificate in Vocology, The University of Iowa/National Center for Voice and Speech, under the direction of Ingo Titze.
May 1995 Master of Music in Voice Performance, The University of Colorado at Boulder.
May 1991 Master of Music Education in Arts Administration, The Florida State University.
March 1987 Bachelor of Music in Vocal Performance, The University of Georgia; minors in Italian and Psychology; Magna Cum Laude Honors
Publications
November 2023 “Perception of vibrato rate by professional voice teachers,” published in The Journal of Voice. Second author, with Joshua Glasner as lead author. Available online at https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jvoice.2023.10.032
October 2020 “Acoustical, psychoacoustical, and pedagogical considerations for choral singing with COVID-19 health measures,” published in The Choral Journal (Vol. 61, no. 3 (October 2020), pp. 32-40). Lead author, with Harald Jers and Sten Ternström.
August 2020 “COVID-19 After Effects: Concerns for Singers,” published in The Journal of Voice. Third author, with Lynn Helding, Thomas Carroll, Michael Johns, Wendy LeBorgne, and David Meyer. Available online at https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jvoice.2020.07.032
July 2020 “Safer Singing During the SARS-CoV-2 Pandemic: What We Know and What We Don’t,” published in The Journal of Voice. Multi-author (18 contributors) consensus opinion article. Available online at: https://www.jvoice.org/article/S0892- 1997(20)30245-9/pdf
May 2020 “Voice Change Following Testosterone Supplementation in Women: A Multi-Institutional Case Series,” pulished in The Journal of Voice. Fifth author, with Keith Chadwick, Blake Simpson, Patrick McGarey, Christine Estes, and Lucian Sulica. Available online at https://www.jvoice.org/article/S0892-1997(20)30100-4/pdf
February 2020 “Listener Ratings of Male Singer Technical Ability,” published in The Journal of Voice. Second author, with Rachel Stern (UTSA M.M. student). Available online at https://www.jvoice.org/article/S0892-1997(19)30345-5/fulltext
January 2020 “’Well, for God’s sake, don’t peep!’ – Exploring the Pedagogic Legacy of Barbara Doscher,” published in The Journal of Singing (Volume 76, no. 3 (January/February 2020), pp. 255-264. Sole author.
August 2018 “Social and Stylistic Correlates of Vocal Fry in A Capella Performance,” published in The Journal of Voice. Second author, with Whitney Chappell, Ph.D., and Mackenzie Powell, M.M. (UTSA graduate). Available online at https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jvoice.2018.06.004
January 2018 “The Hole in the sky,” a pedagogical article on teaching tenors, published in The Journal of Singing (Volume 74, no. 3 (January/February 2018), pp. 273-278). Sole author.
September 2016 “Closing Your Mouth to ‘Open’ Your Sound,” published in The Journal of Singing (Volume 73, no. 1 (September/October 2016), pp. 35-41). Sole author.
October 2015 “Perception of non-vibrato sung tones: a pilot study,”published by The Journal of Voice. Available online at http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jvoice.2015.10.005. Second author, with Randi Wooding (UTSA M.M. student).
September 2015 “Vibrato and non-vibrato singing in college music majors: a multi-center study,” published in The Journal of Voice. First author, with Nicolas Perna (Mississippi College), Kimberly James (University of Montana), and Sheila Allen (Texas Christian University). Available online at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jvoice.2015.09.006.
March 2014 “Shaken, not stirred: practical ideas for addressing vibrato and non-vibrato in the studio and choral rehearsal,” published in The Journal of Singing (Volume 70, no. 4 (March/April 2014), pp. 411-418). Sole author.
May 2012 “Does Real-Time Visual Feedback Enhance Perceived Aspects of Choral Performance?” published in the Journal of Singing (Volume 68, no.5, pp. 495-509). Lead author, with Amy Mathews-Muttwill.
June 2009 “Chorister Perceptions of Real-Time Displays of Spectra in the Choral Rehearsal: A Feasibility Study,” published in the online journal The International Journal of Research in Choral Singing, (Volume 3, no. 1, pp. 45-59). Available online at https://acda.org/Editor/assets/IJRCS/volumethree/ijrcs3_1_nixmabrymathews.pdf Lead author, with Gary Mabry and Amy Mathews-Muttwill.
December 2008 “Vocology and the Selection of Choral Repertoire,” published in Volume 13 (pp. 36–42) of Australian Voice. Sole author.
July 2007 “Protocol Challenges for On-the-Job Dosimetry of Teachers in the United States and Finland,” published in July 2007 issue of The Journal of Voice (Volume 21, no. 4, pp. 385-396). Lead author, with Jan Svec, Anna-Maria Laukkanen and Ingo Titze.
October 2006 “Objective Measurement of Vocal Fatigue in Classical Singers: A Vocal Dosimetry Pilot Study,” published in the October 2006 issue of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery. (Volume 135, pages 595-602). Second author (wrote grant which funded study, recruited all subjects, collected all data, co-analyzed data and co-authored paper). Authors: Thomas Carroll, John Nix, Eric Hunter, Kate Emerich, Ingo Titze, and Mona Abaza.
September 2002 “Developing Critical Listening and Observational Skills in Young Voice Teachers,” published in the September/October 2002 issue of The Journal of Singing (Volume 59, no. 1, pp. 27-30). Sole author.
January 2002 “Criteria for Selecting Repertoire,” published in the January/February 2002 issue of The Journal of Singing (Volume 58, no. 3, pp. 217-221). Sole author.
January 1999 “Lip Trills and Raspberries: ‘High Spit Factor’ Alternatives to the Nasal Continuant Consonants,” published in the January 1999 issue of The Journal of Singing (Volume 55, no. 3, pp. 15-19). Sole author.
March 1998 "Dear Diary: Body Monitoring Techniques for Singers," published in the March 1998 issue of The Journal of Singing (Volume 54, no. 4, pp. 25-29). Sole author.
May 1995 "The Vocal Method of Mathilde Marchesi: A Modern Evaluation," published in the May/June 1995 issue of The NATS Journal (Volume 51, no. 5, pp. 3-8). Sole author.
Refereed Publications – Editor reviewed - Journal Articles in Print
September 2023 “What science is, and what it is not,” the first article as an Associate Editor of The Journal of Singing – the Practical Voice Science column, published in The Journal of Singing (Volume 80, no. 1, pp. 57-61). Co-authored with David Meyer.
February 2023 “Vibrato in Singing,” published in The Voice (Vol. 28, no. 1 (February 2023, pp. 3-4), published online February 24, 2023 at: https://voicefoundation.org/wp- content/uploads/2023/02/Newsletter-Feb-2023.pdf
October 2022 “Review: I’m Glad I’m Not a Tenor Recital. Troy Castle, baritone voice and Pei-I Wang, piano,” published in College Music Symposium (Vol. 62, no. 2 (Fall 2022), published online October 15, 2022 at: https://symposium.music.org/index.php/component/k2/item/11576-review-i-i-m-glad-i- m-not-a-tenor-i-recital-troy-castle-baritone-voice-and-pei-i-wang-piano-twelve-pieces- by-various-composers-september-26-2021-recital-kaeuper-hall-millikin-university- decatur- il?highlight=WyJ0cm95IiwiY2FzdGxlIiwiY2FzdGxlJ3MiLCJ0cm95IGNhc3RsZSJd.
Sole author.
November 2021 “Emerging from COVID-19: Concerns for Singers,” published in The Journal of Singing (Vol. 78, no. 2 (Nov/Dec 2021), pp. 211-232). Second author, with David Meyer, Lynn Helding, Thomas Carroll, Jeremy Faust, and Christine Petersen.
May 2021 “Practical Science in the Studio, Part 3: “High-Tech” Strategies,” published in The Journal of Singing (Vol. 77, no. 5 (May/June 2021), pp. 633-643). Second author, with David Meyer and David Okerlund.
March 2021 “Practical Science in the Studio, Part 2: “Low-Tech” Strategies,” published in The Journal of Singing (Vol. 77, no. 4 (March/April 2021), pp. 507-511). Lead author, with David Meyer, Ron Scherer, and Deidre Michael.
October 2020 “Changes in Vibrato Rate, Vibrato Extent, and Vibrato Jitter in Soprano Voices in Response to Changes in Mouth Opening: A Pilot Study,” published in The Journal of Singing (Vol. 77, no. 2 (Nov/Dec 2020), pp. 213-218). Second author, with Paul Patinka (recent UTSA graduate student).
April 2019 “Review: Transforming Postwar East Germany through Song: Paul Dessau’s Lieder composed for Lin Jaldati, presented by Michael Hix,” published in College Music Symposium (Vol. 59, no. 1 (Spring 2019), published online April 1, 2019 at: http://doi.org/10.18177/sym.2019.59.sr.11435). Sole author.
September 2018 “Review: Jocelyn Binet’s Cycle de Melodies: Unearthing a Forgotten Song Cycle, Lecture- Recital by Matthew Hoch,” published in College Music Symposium (Vol. 58, no. 2 (Fall 2018), published online September 20,2018 at http://doi.org/10.18177/sym.2018.58.sr.11388). Sole author.
September 2018 “Singing For A New World: How Voice Can Save The Culture,” published in VOICEPrints, the Journal of the New York Singing Teachers’ Association (Vol. 16, no. 1 (Sept/Oct 2018), pp. 12-15). Lead author, with Lynn Helding, Erin Guinup, Constanza Roeder, and Allen Henderson.
November 2017 “A 21st Century Primer on Vocalizing,” published in The Journal of Singing (Vol. 74 no. 2 (November/December 2017), pp. 187-194. Sole author.
November 2017 “Best Practices: Using Exercise Physiology and Motor Learning Principles in the Teaching Studio and the Practice Room,” published in The Journal of Singing (Vol. 74 no. 2 (November/December 2017), pp. 213-218. Sole author.
June 2016 “Listener ratings of singer expressivity in musical performance,” published in Proceedings of Meetings on Acoustics (Volume 26, no. 1, published online at http://scitation.aip.org/content/asa/journal/jasa/139/4/10.1121/1.4950015). Second author, with Mackenzie Parrott (UTSA graduate student). A ‘lay language’ version of the paper is available at http://acoustics.org/2amu5-do-people-find-vocal-fry-in-popular-music- expressive-mackenzie-parrott/
June 2016 “Why fry? An exploration of the lowest register in amplified and unamplified singing,” published in Proceedings of Meetings on Acoustics (Volume 26, no. 1, published online at http://scitation.aip.org/content/asa/journal/poma/26/1/10.1121/2.0000210). Sole author.
July 2015 “Listener preferences for vibrato rate and extent in synthesized vocal samples,” published in Proceedings of Meetings on Acoustics (Volume 23, no. 1, published online at http://scitation.aip.org/content/asa/journal/poma/23/1/10.1121/2.0000067). Sole author.
May 2014 “Measuring Mozart: A Pilot Study Testing the Accuracy of Objective Methods for Matching a Song to a Singer,” published in The Journal of Singing (Volume 70, no. 5 (May/June 2014), pp. 561-572). Sole author.
May 2013 “ ‘You want me to do what?’ Twenty-first century pedagogy encounters pedagogical fundamentalism,” published in The Choral Journal (Volume 53, no. 10, pp. 43-51). Sole author.
April 2013 “Vibrato and non-vibrato singing: who teaches it? How do they teach it? Does it make a difference?” published in The Choral Journal (Volume 53, no. 9, pp. 43-52). Sole author.
November 2010 “The Speech Pathologist, the Singing Teacher and the Singing Voice Specialist: Where’s the line?” published in the November/December 2010 issue of The Journal of Singing (Volume 67, No.2 , pp. 171-178). Second author, with Marina Gilman as lead author and Edie Hapner.
November 2008 “Mission Possible: Starting a Voice Lab at Your School,” published in the November/December 2008 issue (Volume 65, No. 2, pp. 187-193) of The Journal of Singing. Sole author.
January 2008 “Semi-Occluded Vocal Tract Postures and Their Application in the Singing Voice Studio,” published in the January/February 2008 issue of The Journal of Singing. (Volume 64, no. 3, pp. 339-342). Lead author, with C. Blake Simpson as second author.
September 2005 “Application of Vocal Fry to the Training of Singers,” published in the September/October 2005 issue of The Journal of Singing (Volume 62, no. 1, pp. 53-59). Lead author, with Ingo Titze and Kate Emerich.
November 2004 “Vowel Modification Revisited,” published in the November/December 2004 issue of The Journal of Singing (Volume 61, no. 2, pp. 173-176). Sole author.
December 1997 “Coaches’ Corner: An Interview with Robert Spillman,” published in the December 1997 issue of The Opera Journal (Volume 30, no. 4, pp. 31-41).