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 5th May 2026
2:00 PM - 4:00 PM
Tuesday 12th May 2026
2:00 PM - 4:00 PM
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
Dr David Cane
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.
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.
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.