Three School of Music alumni present at international conference for voice teachers

Three alumni from the School of Music in the ASU Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts were featured presenters at the quadrennial conference of the International Congress of Voice Teachers (ICVT).

The theme for the 2017 ICVT conference, which was held Aug. 2–6 in Stockholm, Sweden, was “Tradition and Science in Harmony.”

Kevin Hanrahan, who received a DMA in vocal performance in 2005, presented a lecture on “Benjamin Britten: A Study in Vocal Acoustics” and a poster titled “How far is too far in the composer/performer collaboration?” Hanrahan is professor of voice and voice pedagogy at the University of Nebraska, Lincoln. Susan Hurley, who earned a DMA in vocal performance in 2012, presented a lecture on “Tomatis-based Listening,” discussing the audio-vocal theories of Alfred Tomatis and outlining their applicability to the voice studio. Hurley is assistant professor of voice at Mississippi University for Women in Columbus, Mississippi. Deborah Popham, who also earned a DMA in vocal performance, presented a lecture on “Singing Without Words — How to Use Vocalizes Effectively in the Teaching Studio” and a poster titled “Developmental Repertoire for Beginning and University Level Students.” Popham is assistant professor of voice/ coordinator of vocal studies at Sam Houston State University in Huntsville, Texas. 

ICVT is an organization of voice teachers, voice scientists and voice researchers from around the world. It meets for five days of sessions, master classes and performances every four years. The conference in Sweden, attended by 400 delegates from around the world, was ICVT’s ninth since its inception in 1987.