Voice and Presence in Teaching, Learning and Performance!
Tuesday 13th January 2026, 5:00 PM - 7:00 PM (London Time)
Presence is so often talked about in relation to Performance. This course will build on participants’ current understanding of the importance of Presence in Performance and how to enable clients to access that reliably. It will also explore the Role of Presence in Voice Teaching and Learning and give simple tools for accessing Presence in these situations.
These are tools that not only come from Barbara’s years of teaching and directing but also from her training in and practice of Mindfulness and SOLignment (Somatic Alignment) Breath and Embodiment Processes..
Barbara Houseman’s career as a voice and acting coach and theatre director spans nearly forty years. She trained as a voice teacher at The Royal Central School of Speech and Drama and as a theatre director at The Bristol Old Vic Theatre School. She won an Arts Council director’s bursary and assisted Mike Alfreds before working professionally as a director and voice coach.
Since then she has worked extensively as a voice and text coach in the West End including shows including The Ferryman, Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time and Equus (The Gielgud); Kenneth Branagh Season (The Garrick); the All Female Trilogy, Trelawney of the Wells, Coriolanus, Les Liaisons Dangereuses, St Joan (The Donmar); Dr Faustus (Duke of Yorks); Macbeth and Richard III (Trafalgar Studios); Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead, Sweet Bird of Youth, Duchess of Malfi, Playboy of the Western World (The Old Vic).
She’s been resident voice and text coach at the Open Air Theatre in Regent’s Park since 2009 and was Season Associate Director since 2012.
Individual clients include Jane Asher, Kenneth Branagh, Jessie Buckley, Omid Djalili, Dynamo, Richard Fairbrass, Jerry Hall, Lenny Henry, Nicholas Hoult, Karl Hyde, Patrick Kielty, Jude Law, Clive Owen, Daniel Radcliffe, Scarlett Strallen, Will Young.
🏷️ 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
Barbara Houseman
Barbara Houseman’s career as a voice and acting coach and theatre director spans nearly forty years. She trained as a voice teacher at The Royal Central School of...
Attend this course for as little as £22 as part of the Voice Professional Training CPD Award Scheme.
Learn MoreSorry, 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.
Tuesday 27th October 2026
5:00 PM - 7:00 PM
(London Time)
Pop Pedagogy - an Overview
Kim Chandler
Some successful pop stars are celebrating career lengths of over sixty years, having been around since the 1950s when pop music emerged and diversified from jazz, so pop singing has been in existence sufficiently long now that, for teaching purposes, we can observe and analyse what type of approach serves it best.
Friday 30th October 2026
3:00 PM - 5:00 PM
(London Time)
Feldenkrais Method® - its application in speech and song!
Marina Gilman
The Feldenkrais Method® is a form of somatic education that uses gentle movement and directed attention to improve physical and mental functioning, including singing and speaking. Since we are not always aware of the source of tension or discoordination, it is difficult to make the necessary adjustments to ensure optimal use of the voice!
Monday 2nd November 2026
5:00 PM - 7:00 PM
Tuesday 3rd November 2026
5:00 PM - 7:00 PM
(London Time)
The Vocal Health Challenges for Actors and Singers!
Leda Scearce
Two part course! Vocal health principles are inextricably and symbiotically linked with singing and acting voice pedagogy: Good vocal health allows the singer and actor to more easily and effectively achieve their technical and artistic goals, and good teaching reinforces vocal technique that diminishes the risk of vocal injury. We now also recognize the necessity for singers and actors to understand how their instruments work, how to take care of their voices, and what to do when something goes wrong. Singing and acting teachers are indeed on the front lines of vocal health!