About the LoVetri Institute for Somatic Voicework™

Level I is called “Basic Application” and includes the following: introduction to functional principles of voice science and medicine. It guides singing teachers to enhance their own qualities as the “building blocks” of The LoVetri Method. It looks at terminology and at objectively describing vocal behavior. It also addresses attitude, intention and appropriateness of the interaction between student and teacher. Level I states that the teacher must have a clear intention for the vocal exercise when it is given. The teacher must know (a) either what is missing and needs to be added or (b) what is wrong and needs to be corrected, such that the student’s singing will somehow improve. It rests on vocal function, vocal health, and on traditional pedagogy, but it is also meant to help singers be marketable. There will be a vocal health lecture to instruct the teacher how to listen functionally, to hear aural distinctions and relate them to responses.

Level I Learning Objectives:

• Participants will be able to describe methods for effective communication with singers and singing teachers.
• Participants will be able to describe musical vocal production, the way in which stylistic parameters impact voice production, the relationship between speaking and singing voice production, music industry terminology, and industry expectations for voicing style and vocal load.
• Participants will demonstrate that they are able to listen “functionally” to singers’ voices both from a vocal health and a musical perspective, including the distinction between hypo- and hyper-functional singing in Contemporary Commercial Music (CCM).
• Participants will demonstrate the ability to assess the intention/purpose for any given sung vocal exercise.

Level II is called “Advanced Application” and is largely devoted to exploring how singing exercises work, what they do and why. It examines the age, background, and desires of the students and how those things relate to the teaching process. It enhances the teacher’s ability to evaluate the students in terms of vocal behavior and aptitude. In Level II, the teacher acquires greater skill in choosing exercises that are appropriate and adjusting them to meet the level of ability of the student at any given point. There is also greater exploration of the many CCM styles, examining performance aspects that may impact vocal health. The main objective of Level II is understanding how to use vocal exercises functionally.

Level II Learning Objectives:

• Participants will be able to describe teachers’ rationales for choosing specific voice exercises in the singing environment and also how to evaluate the functional appropriateness of those exercises for individual patients.
• Participants will be able to evaluate singers’ vocal responses in the context of age, background, past vocal training, and natural aptitude.
• Participants will be able to verbalize at least two distinct ways in which specific Contemporary Commercial Music singing styles interact with vocal health.
• Participants will demonstrate basic competence in guiding a sample student through a sequence of Somatic Voicework™ singing exercises with supervision by LoVetri Institute faculty.

Level III addresses “Repertoire, Problem Solving, and Voice Medicine”. It will feature a music theater expert who will conduct a master class in audition skills with chosen participants. Level III also touches upon acting for Music Theater and provides an excellent and quick approach to teach pitch matching for anyone with that problem. It promotes interdisciplinary interchange, i.e., the need for fellowship with Speech Language Pathologists and Medical Doctors. It also supports the idea that teachers should acquire the ability to read, understand, and possibly even undertake research of interest to those in voice disciplines.

Level III Learning Objectives:

• Participants will be able to verbalize at least two considerations for communicating and collaborating with their patients’ singing teachers to support their progress during therapy and transition back to the lesson environment on discharge
• Participants will be able to state at least two potential impacts of vocal disease processes, injuries, medications, and phonosurgery on singing voice function.
• Participants will be able to verbalize at least two physiologic voicing demands that are specific to singing at the professional level in the Broadway environment.

Transgender and gender non-binary clients are seeking services from speech and language pathologists and from teachers of singing with increasing frequency, both for the singing voice and the speaking voice. This three-day intensive course is open to all graduates of Level III of Somatic Voicework, regardless of areas of professional practice or knowledge levels of teaching and therapy techniques for the transgender singing and speaking voice.

This course will combine lectures, demonstrations, and videos with opportunities for experiential learning. Guest lectures and demonstrations will be given by transgender, gender non-binary, and cisgender individuals. Topics include appropriate language usage, best practice standards for teachers and therapists, and becoming an ally to the transgender and gender non-binary community. Dr. Kozan will also discuss special concerns as a cisgender person providing services to transgender and gender non-binary clients, challenges faced by trans and gender non-binary singers and speakers, experiences using Somatic Voicework principles with clients, use of voice therapy techniques, and techniques for helping change the client’s internal self-talk. Kozan will present excerpts from The Singing Voice chapter (authored by Kozan and Sandi Hammond in Adler, Hirsch and Pickering’s Voice and Communication Therapy for the Transgender/Gender Diverse Client: A Comprehensive Clinical Guide, Third Ed., 2019). Time for questions will be scheduled and welcomed during each session throughout the three-day course.

This is an intensive vocal health course for graduates of Level III of Somatic Voicework™ in any year prior to 2024. Dr. Milstein will cover a review of basic vocal anatomy and physiology, refreshing the definitions of terms used in clinical and medical discussion of vocal problems. It will present typical problems, through audio and visual examples, of various types of vocal pathology and vocal illness or injury and help singing teachers identify their student’s auditory cues for suspicious vocal qualities and behaviors. Recommendations for referring to a voice care team will be discussed, as well as suggestions on how to interact with these medical professionals to assist in the vocal health of the students. Other topics will be addressed at his discretion. Singing teachers will be free to interact with Dr. Milstein to clarify various issues or questions.

Soul Ingredients is a voice teaching method created by Dr. Trineice Robinson-Martin for developing the voice while fostering personal style and soul expression. This methodology uses a strategic combination of science-based voice pedagogy and standard pedagogic concepts found within the oral teaching tradition of African American folk-based music styles (gospel, jazz, soul, hip-hop) to develop unique artists and musical storytellers regardless of musical genre. Through this uniquely designed methodology, the historical, artistic and improvisational techniques of African American music merge with science based vocal technique in an exploration of how each individual performer's physical, emotional and cultural perceptions can expand their artistry.

Soul Ingredients is voice pedagogy according to science; voice training according to style; and artist development rooted in personal soul expression.

When Science Meets Soul Level I: Introduction to Soul ingredients is a three-day intensive course that introduces professional voice users, teachers, and SLP to a vocabulary for teaching music and working with singers and musical styles rooted in, and influenced by, African American folk-based music styles and music traditions. Each day presents a focused area in Soul Ingredients methodology: Developing the Sound, Developing the Style, and Developing the Story.