I’m delighted that in June of this year (2026) I will be speaking for the Institute for Vocal Advancement on Practical tools for working with emotion in the singing voice.
The session will be held on the 25th of June 5pm BST. Details below:
Singing is communication; it is an expression of ourselves or of our character. When done well, it moves the audience to feel deeply within themselves. However, for some singers, stepping into that emotional space can be daunting, while others may struggle to maintain control once they tap into their emotions. In this 2-hour webinar, we will explore practical coaching strategies for working with both types of student.
Part 1: We’ll focus on empowering singers who are hesitant to embrace their emotional side through exploring gentle yet effective tools to encourage emotional performance.
Part 2: We’ll concentrate on techniques for performers who find it challenging to stay in control while expressing their emotions. Learn how to harness and balance emotional intensity with vocal precision.
We will also address the crucial aspect of emotional safeguarding, ensuring that our practices remain ethical, prioritising care of the student, and within professional boundaries.
Join us for a Q&A session at the end, where you can ask questions and gain further clarity on the topics discussed.
I will also be speaking at the The Theatrical Voice Research Centre Conference on Affective Athleticism in the Vocal Athlete: Performing Emotional Roles.
The conference runs from 24th-26th June at the University of Surrey.
Performing emotional roles is an inevitability for singing and non-singing actors. As Tait (2021, p1) observes, “The possibilities for thinking about and remembering emotion, as well as imagining it, have long been part of theatre and its theory and practice.” The challenges of performing high intensity emotional roles reach beyond typical considerations of authenticity and acting approaches. The term vocal athlete is increasingly popular in the field of voice. This paper considers the balance of vocal athleticism with affective athleticism, to use Antonin Artaud’s term. When approaching a performer’s ability to embody these roles, we should also consider the potential impact on the voice. Negative valence emotions have been associated with stronger autonomic responses than positive valence emotions (Kreibig, 2010). Stress and fear responses can trigger the sympathetic nervous system, preparing the body for active response (Cardoso, Lumini-Oliviera and Menses, 2021, p104). Sympathetic arousal can increase respiratory rate, impacting articulation and vocal fold vibration. Indicators of negative valence emotions on the voice include pressed phonation, increased laryngeal height, shortening of the vocal tract, and engagement of the sternocleidomastoid and suprahyoid muscles. The requirements of singing alongside emotional acting can lead to “inappropriate and excessive muscular activity” leading to fatigue and the potential for impaired vocal function (Rangarathnam et al, 2018, p300). Therefore, practitioners working with singers performing emotionally charged roles should consider vocal technique and acting approaches carefully to safeguard vocal health. This paper presentation aims to address this challenge through a review of interdisciplinary literature leading to a deeper understanding of potential risks and mitigation strategies.
Louisa Morgan 