Vocal Health and a Conductor’s Dream: The Power of Other-Than-Conscious Communications

Much has been written about foods, medications, number of hours of singing, and how they all affect the voice. We tend to forget, though, that the demands we as conductors have for our singers, as well as the singers for themselves, might put unnecessary stress and strain on the voice and the body, leading to fatigue, which will interfere with the expressive singing all of us have as our goal.

Amazingly, we tend look at activities as isolated skills, forgetting that whatever we do will always involve the entire body and mind. More research has been done lately to see what happens to us when we do things – such as conducting or singing – specifically, how the body and mind affect each other through their undividable connection. We need to continue to find and explore ways to overcome habits that interfere with the 'perfect system' our body is.

In this session, we will address some of the following ideas:
• How does the choir room atmosphere (fear of singing a ‘wrong note,’ ‘sticking out,’ or not ‘blending’) affect the singer?
• If there is anxiety in the choir rehearsal, how does it affect the entire body? What effect will this have on the singer’s voice?
• Does performance anxiety have a physiological effect on the body?
• What strategies might allow us to experience easy and interference-free conducting and singing?