A Season of Change: Female Voice during Midlife and the Menopausal Transition
Thursday 29th July 2021, 5:00 PM - 7:00 PM (London Time)
A Season of Change: Female Voice during Midlife and the Menopausal Transition
Voice changes during the menopausal transition are frequently reported, but are under-studied in voice research and largely overlooked in pedagogical resources. For female singers of all genres, even subtle voice changes can be confusing and discouraging, and in some cases, may lead to career disruptions. To help with potential voice issues and the natural changes of midlife, female singers as well as their teachers and choral conductors need information about the underlying hormonal landscape of perimenopause, menopause and effects on voice. To compassionately and effectively work with women of this age, the larger context of midlife should be considered, and voice recalibration and balancing guidelines understood.
Part One (ca. 25 minutes)
- Introduction
- History of menopause; bias in medicine and voice research
- Midlife versus old age in voice pedagogy
- Singing Through Change: interviews and book
Part Two (ca. 45 minutes)
- Overview of perimenopause and menopause
- Midlife: psycho-social-physiologic context
- Sex steroid (reproductive) hormones and voice; review of research
- Potential voice changes and the menopausal transition
- Related emotional responses
- Phases of voice changes in the menopausal transition
- Role of genre
- Role of midlife aging and lifestyle
- Hormone replacement therapy in 2021
Break (5 minutes)
Part Three (ca. 45 minutes)
- Awareness for teachers and choral directors
- Technique guidelines and shop talk
- Ongoing and upcoming research
- Closing
- Questions
Joanne Bozeman
A graduate of the University of Arizona, Joanne Bozeman has been a singing teacher for 46 years. In 2019, she retired from Lawrence University’s Conservatory...
Sorry, this is an archived short course...
We have plenty of upcoming short courses coming soon. See details of some of them below or look at the full list of short courses.
Thursday 4th December 2025
5:00 PM - 7:00 PM
(London Time)
(R)evolutionary Voice Training: harnessing human instinct to accelerate vocal transformation!
Maddie Tarbox
Human beings and our vertebrate ancestors have been communicating via vocalization for millions of years – those sounds did not start as complex language, but as animal mimicry, acoustic cuing, and emotional primal sounds. Join Maddie Tarbox for this two hour session as she unpicks the repertoire of instinctive shortcuts that can lower cognitive load and accelerate vocal change!
Tuesday 9th December 2025
5:00 PM - 7:00 PM
(London Time)
Low Male Voices (LMVs): Development, Technique, and Repertoire
Dr Dann Mitton
Join Dr Dann Mitton for this two hour workshop where he explores the Development, Techniques, and Repertoire favoured for Low Male Voices (LMVs). Typically labelled as 'Bass' and 'Baritone', these classifications are used in classical music, choral settings, and vocal pedagogy to help determine suitable repertoire and vocal roles. In contemporary music, the distinctions are less rigid but still useful for understanding vocal range and timbre.
Thursday 11th December 2025
8:00 AM - 10:00 AM
(London Time)
Picking Up Good Vibrations: Pedagogical and Clinical Voice Analysis!
Dr Calvin Baker
Voice teachers and clinicians strongly rely on auditory perceptual modes of voice evaluation. These are considered the gold standard for assessing voice quality and training effects (e.g., a singer’s progress from lesson to lesson or across voice therapy). Join Dr Calvin Baker as he explores techniques for instrumentally analysing the singing voice. Specific considerations for the challenges of obtaining reliable, robust, and comparable data will be presented, and practical recommendations for recording and analysing the singing voice in pedagogical and clinical contexts will be made.