Online Research Symposium: Singing, Wellbeing and Social Inclusion
Friday 24th September 2021, 9:00 AM - 12:30 PM (London Time)
The Voice Study Centre and De Montfort University’s Mary Seacole Research Centre are delighted to announce their next online symposium on Singing, Wellbeing and Social Inclusion on 24 September 2021 between 9am and 12:30pm (BST).
The symposium will be held on Zoom and is free of charge.
Programme:
9:00 Welcome with Prof Raghu Ragavan (Mary Seacole Research Centre, De Montfort University) and Debbie Winter (Voice Study Centre)
9:15 Prof Johann van der Sandt, University of Bozen/Bolzano, Italy
Musical Habits and Wellbeing of adolescent choir singers in Italy, Austria and Finland during Covid-19 Lockdowns
9:45 Dr Sanna Salminen, University of Jyväskylä, Finland
Benefits of Singing reflected in the conceptual framework of social inclusion
10:15 Celi Barberia, Sing Up Foundation, UK
Sing Up: Children and Young People and the benefits of singing
10:45 Emily Foulkes, Singing for Health Network and Voice Study Centre, UK
Singing for Health
11:15 Dr Motje Wolf, De Montfort University and Voice Study Centre, UK
The Effect of Covid-19 Lockdowns on Performer Identities of Professional Singers in the UK
11:45 Plenary
12:15 Good-bye
Dr Motje Wolf
Dr Motje Wolf was awarded a PhD in Music Education from De Montfort University Leicester (UK) and an MA from the University of Leipzig (Germany) in Musicology and Dramatics. Her research focuses on vocal pedagogy, epistemology and pedagogic knowledge exchange.
Emily Foulkes
Emily gained a Distinction in her Master’s in Voice Pedagogy, specialising in Singing for Mental Health, Pain Management, and Trauma-Informed Practice...
Johann van der Sandt
Johann van der Sandt completed his studies at the University of Pretoria, and his choral conducting at the Institute of Choral Conducting in Gorinchem, Netherlands. He is a sought after juror, composer and choral clinician.
Dr Sanna Salminen
Dr Sanna Salminen is an acknowledged music educator in her home country. She works as a university teacher in Music Pedagogy under the Department of Education at the University of Jyväskylä.
Celi Barberia
Celi Barberia has been working in music education for over 15 years, through fundraising and policy roles at Youth Music and then communications and marketing roles at Sing Up and has had a lifelong passion for the arts, education and working in charities.
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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This six-week course is an opportunity to learn about both Received Pronunciation and Standard Southern British English. Rather than a course in learning how to speak RP/SSBE (there are many brilliant available courses for this already), this course is about learning how to coach it.
Tuesday 17th March 2026
5:00 PM - 7:00 PM
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The Use of Vibrato in Belt and Legit Styles of Singing in Professional Female Musical Theatre Performers
Dr. Alyssa Becker
Shaped by the popular music of its time, musical theatre blends storytelling with an ever-evolving range of vocal styles—from classical legit singing to jazz, hip-hop, and powerhouse belting. Despite its importance, much of what we understand about vibrato comes from laboratory-based studies that strip singing of its musical, stylistic, and performance context. Join Dr Alyssa Becker as she connects current research with real-world pedagogy, revealing how elite musical theatre performers strategically use vibrato to shape style and storytelling, and showing how these insights can be applied in the voice studio to train stylistic flexibility and control!
Wednesday 18th March 2026
5:00 PM - 7:00 PM
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Ruth Williams Hennessy
Are you a singer or speaker struggling with stubborn jaw tension that just won't quit? Even with elite training, the "stuck" jaw is often a symptom of a surprising culprit: your feet! Join Ruth Hennessy in this interactive workshop where she bridges the gap between podiatry and phonation, moving beyond "temporary fixes" to address the physical misalignments that bottleneck your performance.