FALL 1999 p. 4

The Giving Voice Festival Aberystwyth, Wales

By Janet B. Rodgers
Virginia Commonwealth University

This year I had the pleasure of attending The Giving Voice Festival that took place during the Easter holidays in Aberystwyth, Wales. For anyone who loves singing and hearing the voice in a truly international arena of musical and vocal styles and has a hankering for travel, this festival is for you. Each festival is based upon a theme and this year’s theme was: “The Divinity of the Voice.” This ten day event offered something for everybody: a daily vocal warm-up, participatory workshops that lasted from one to nine days, late afternoon lecture/demonstrations, and evening performances. One could participate in as much or as little as one wished and paid according to the level of participation.

Since 1990, voice practitioners have gathered from around the world for this festival located next to the intermittently sunny and rainy shore of Wales. The University of Wales is host to this event that is organized by The Center for Performance Research. This past year there were 80 presenters with over 200 participants.

I participated in two workshops: Frankie Armstrong’s Vocal Archetypes, which I found thrilling and very useful and applicable to my acting work when I returned home, and Helen Chadwick’s singing workshop, which stretched my abilities in harmony and canon singing in a very supportive way. I would love to have done Tran Quang Hai’s one-day bi-tonal workshop but by the time I registered, it was already full. I did attend his lecture and am very pleased that he will be presenting for us at our VASTA 2000 Conference at George Mason University. Noah Pikes’ lecture on Roy Hart’s work, which included a rarely viewed film of Wolfsohn’s and Roy Hart’s work in action, whetted my appetite to learn more about the Roy Hart work. Noah Pikes also presented a two-day workshop that used structured exercises and improvisation to explore the whole voice. It was impossible to do everything at the festival but the daily taste of music and harmony was exciting and uplifting.

Visiting Wales was also an important part of the experience. Aberystwyth is a seaside resort which was in its heyday during the Victorian and Edwardian periods. Located midway on the West Coast of Wales, it is “firmly-rooted in all aspects of Welsh culture” as well as sporting excellent examples of 19th and early 20th century architecture.

Aberystwyth is about six hours from London by train or you can rent a car at Heathrow Airport and amble across England and Wales in a more leisurely manner. Adjusting to the narrow roads and left side of the rode driving posed a real challenge for me and the people with whom I was traveling, but it enabled us to visit Warwick Castle and Stratford Upon Avon as well as take an Easter Day trip to St. David’s on the southwestern tip of Wales where we heard the Hallelujah chorus sung in the huge cathedral. For me, the side jaunts were an important part of the experience of attending The Giving Voice.

Musically, socially, and educationally, the Giving Voice Festival is a rich experience. The next Giving Voice Festival will be in 2001: “The Political Voice, followed by “The Philosophies of the Voice” in 2003, and “A Voice Economy” in 2005. I highly recommend this once-in-a-lifetime (or maybe twice, if you are lucky) event. For further information about The Giving Voice, contact <cprwww@aber.co.uk> or write Center for Performance Research, 8 Science Park, Aberystwyth, Wales, SY23 3AH, FAX: +44 (0) 1970 622132.

© Copyright 1987-2001 Voice and Speech Trainers Association, Inc.