The Evolving Singing Voice: The Senior Years
Thursday 6th October 2022, 5:00 PM - 7:00 PM (London Time)
This short course draws information from Chapter 6 of Karen’s Book, The Evolving Singing Voice: Changes Across the Life Span – The Senescent Singer.
Vocal changes and their impact on singing sometimes prompt singers in their fifth, sixth, and even seventh decade of life to seek help with their voices.
At this point, a teacher well-equipped with explanations and solutions can be a great help.
Karen has worked with many aging amateur and professional singers one-on-one and within the ensemble setting. She is also an older singer herself.
This course will address the impact of aging factors on “the senescent singer?”
Are there specific exercises that can address changing issues?
What are reasonable healthy expectations for singing?
What causes these changes? What changes in our sensations and why?
At the end of the course, you will have a depth of understanding and many ways to help our beloved senior singers.
Karen Brunssen
Mezzo-soprano, Karen Brunssen is Professor and Co-chair of the Department of Music Performance at Bienen School of Music, Northwestern University.
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 18th December 2025
3:00 PM - 5:00 PM
(London Time)
Improving Lyric Italian Diction for Classical Singers
Professor Conroy Cupido
Join Professor Conroy Cupido as he offers an in-depth exploration of the most frequent pronunciation errors made by classical singers in Italian lyric diction. Designed for both emerging and advanced singers, the course provides a structured and practical approach to mastering Italian pronunciation as used in opera, oratorio, and art song.
Monday 12th January 2026
12:00 PM - 1:30 PM
Tuesday 13th January 2026
12:00 PM - 1:30 PM
Wednesday 14th January 2026
12:00 PM - 1:30 PM
Thursday 15th January 2026
12:00 PM - 1:30 PM
Tuesday 20th January 2026
12:00 PM - 1:30 PM
Wednesday 21st January 2026
12:00 PM - 1:30 PM
(London Time)
Level One Certificate in Accents and Phonetics
Louisa Morgan
Are you a voice, acting, or singing coach looking to expand your expertise and add accents and phonetics to your teaching repertoire? This 6-session course covers essential topics such as articulatory, acoustic, and auditory phonetics, the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA), and ethical approaches to accent and dialect coaching. By the end of this course, you'll be equipped with the knowledge and practical skills to start to bring phonetics and accent coaching into your coaching and provide more comprehensive support to your clients.
Monday 12th January 2026
2:00 PM - 4:00 PM
(London Time)
Emerging and Developing Voice: Singing and Speech
Karen Brunssen
How does the singing voice influence the speaking voice? How does the speaking voice influence the singing voice? When is there a disparate relationship between the two? Can they help each other? Can one harm the other? How can we use them positively in the voice studio. During this short course we will consider the voice as we sing and as we speak. The acquisition of language is a very interesting journey from birth through old age. We will broach the topics of “lexical” which refers to learning words, and “semantic” which is how we use words in the context of language.