Winter 2001 p. 6

Inaugural Year of the Summer Vocology Institute

By Ingo R. Titze, Ph.D., The University of Iowa

The year 2000 was the inaugural year of the Summer Vocology Institute (SVI), a highly intensive summer “camp” for training in vocology, the science and practice of voice habilitation. The institute was held in Denver, sponsored by the Denver Center for the Performing Arts, The University of Iowa, and the National Center for Voice and Speech. Twenty-one students began the coursework in June and seventeen finished the entire three blocks, which ran until the middle of August. All participants felt somewhat exhausted, but most felt that their knowledge base in voice was greatly enhanced.

The students were a mix of speech trainers, speech-language pathologists, singers, and singing teachers. There was also an almost-even split of early career versus mid-career professionals. Aside from U.S. participants, there were participants from Canada, Japan, Turkey, and Indonesia. This foreign participation brought a wealth of practical knowledge into the classrooms.

Those who completed all courses earned nine semester hours of graduate credit in the SVI. These credits will continue to be offered through The University of Iowa Center for Credit Programs. The courses are identical to those offered to The University of Iowa students during the regular school year, in three different departments: Speech Pathology and Audiology, Theatre Arts, and the School of Music. The faculty in the first year included Ingo Titze and Eileen Finnegan from Iowa’s Department of Speech Pathology and Audiology, Gary Logan from the Denver Center Theatre Company, Brad Story and Lorraine Ramig from the Wilbur James Gould Voice Center, and George Shirley from the University of Michigan (as a guest lecturer). In the year 2001, Judy Leigh-Johnson from The University of Iowa Theatre Arts Department and Katherine Eberle from The University of Iowa School of Music will join the SVI. In addition, Oren Brown, formerly of the Juiliard School, will be a visiting teacher.

The courses to be taught every summer are: Principles of Voice Production, Instrumentation for Voice Analysis, Voice Habilitation, Methods of Teaching Voice, Voice for the Actor, and Voice Seminar (with topics in neuropathology of voice). Students spend three to four hours a day in class, and study individually or in small groups the remainder of the day. On weekends, there are opportunities to spend ime in the Rocky Mountains or enjoy the many venues in Denver, Boulder, or Colorado Springs.

During the entire summer, participants have opportunities to observe clinicians who work with performing artists as clients. They also have opportunities to practice their own vocal skills, and participate in a concert near the end of the season. All in all, the SVI is a terrific experience.

For those who are interested in further details, the SVI program can be examined at http://www.ncvs.org by clicking on Summer Vocology Institute. Information on registration is provided. We believe that this program is an important building block to anyone who wishes to make voice training a career.

Dr. Ingo R. Titze is a Distinguished Professor of Speech Science and Voice at the the University of Iowa and serves as the Director of the National Center for Voice and Speech.

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