Short Courses & Events / Archive

Mindfulness and Voice: Exploring the Intersection through Peer-Reviewed Literature

Tuesday 6th May 2025, 3:00 PM - 5:00 PM (London Time)

There is a natural synergy between mindfulness and voice work. Both require and cultivate sustained attention, self-knowledge, somatic (bodily) awareness, and breath work. Mindfulness research has exploded in recent years, and interest in mindfulness and voice is growing, as evidenced by the amount of mindfulness-related content at conferences of the International Congress of Voice Teachers, the National Association of Teachers of Singing, the Voice Foundation, and the Pan-American Vocology Association, among others. 

Despite strong interest, only a handful of peer-reviewed studies have examined the relationship between mindfulness and voice. Emerging research indicates that mindfulness can help voice users learn to respond to stress more effectively and may help them manage performance anxiety. It can increase attentional and somatic awareness, which may lead to faster vocal change. It may even help reduce the symptoms of some voice disorders, particularly muscle tension dysphonia. Finally, mindfulness can help voice users gain perspective on internal and external criticism and maintain a sense of agency in the face of setbacks and change.

In this course, we will examine several types of peer-reviewed literature. First, we will look at mindfulness studies that indirectly relate to voice work. This will include studies on the psychological and physical benefits of mindfulness. Second, we will review research that examines mindfulness as it relates to voice-adjacent fields (e.g., music performance anxiety and stammering/stuttering). Third, we will look at the few published studies that have directly investigated the relationship between mindfulness and voice, including work with healthy singing populations and research in people with voice disorders. Lastly, we will examine directions for future qualitative and quantitative research.

🏷️ Price £30 (UK VAT inclusive)
🎥 Recording automatically sent to all who book (even if you cannot attend live)
▶️ Rewatch as many times as you like
📜 Certificate of attendance available

Catherine Brown

Catherine Kay Brown is an adjunct voice instructor at Immaculata University and a private voice teacher in Downingtown, Pennsylvania (USA). Ms. Brown runs ongoing mindfulness courses for people with voice disorders and is currently collaborating with the University of Miami on several research projects related to voice and mindfulness.

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Attend this course for as little as £22 as part of the Voice Professional Training CPD Award Scheme.

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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.

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2:00 PM - 4:00 PM
Tuesday 12th May 2026
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Tuesday 19th May 2026
2:00 PM - 4:00 PM
Tuesday 26th May 2026
2:00 PM - 4:00 PM
Tuesday 2nd June 2026
2:00 PM - 4:00 PM
Tuesday 9th June 2026
2:00 PM - 4:00 PM
(London Time)

Music Theory Fundamentals for Voice Pedagogues

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Voice pedagogy has advanced significantly in the last decades in relation to knowledge of the vocal apparatus (anatomy and mechanics), acoustics, and performance psychology (to name just a few subfields) – this is a wonderful thing! Nonetheless, musicianship and the foundations of music theory are still relevant to the teaching and coaching of singers and this course aims to empower voice teachers and coaches with skills to support the fundamental musicianship development of their students.

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Thursday 21st May 2026
5:00 PM - 7:00 PM
(London Time)

Letting the Text Live: Reading Aloud with Expression!

Louisa Morgan

This 2-hour interactive session is designed to help you make more deliberate, expressive choices in your speaking of the written word. It will involve plenty of practical exploration and will cover tips and techniques for working with the voice to lift the text off the page. Work with me to refine nuance, precision, and expressive range. We’ll explore a variety of text samples to cover a wide range of real-world situations, so you can get a feel for the different styles and approaches. If you want your spoken text to sound purposeful, engaging, and unmistakably yours, this session will invite you to play with some tools to do just that.

Exploring Group-Voice for all Ages and Stages!
Tuesday 26th May 2026
5:00 PM - 7:00 PM
(London Time)

Exploring Group-Voice for all Ages and Stages!

Cynthia Vaughn

Teaching group-voice classes is an exciting and fun way to teach singing. It affords the singer and teacher opportunities to experience many different aspects of singing in ways that are not possible when working one-one. Join Cynthia Vaughn as she explores the many benefits gained from working in a group, such as opportunities for each student to participate and hear others, chances to experiment with different techniques, styles, and sounds, guided learning from peers, increased awareness of vocal efficiency and effectiveness, and more confidence (and less self-consciousness) in sharing and performing.