What is the role of an VSC Independent Researcher?
Our Independent Researchers are expert practitioners with a proven track record of publishing impactful research. Their work extends beyond traditional academic circles, directly influencing vocal practice, pedagogy, vocal health, and community enrichment. When voice teachers, therapists, or performers lead research based on their practice, the findings are readily applicable, leading to tangible improvements in teaching methods, therapeutic results, and performance techniques.
How do I become a VSC Independent Researcher?
Eligible practitioners who engage with the Voice Study Centre as an independent researcher and produce published outputs can become a VSC Independent Researcher. Those outputs can be:
1) Published in journals
2) Implementing strategic change that is tangible and evidenced
Christabel Heasman-Cossins
Christabel has recently been published in the journal of Music & Science. Her paper titled, "Using Vocal Improvisation within the Vocal Coaching Studio to Mitigate Music Performance Anxiety: An Exploratory Study of Three Cases" delves into a crucial issue for musicians: music performance anxiety (MPA). This challenge often impacts instrumentalists and singers, hindering their ability to perform. While music coaches are typically a go-to for help, many vocal coaches currently lack the specialised training to effectively address MPA in singers.
Her innovative research explores the potential of sung improvisation as a strategy to alleviate MPA specifically for vocalists. Previous studies have shown the benefits of improvisation for instrumentalists dealing with performance anxiety, but until now, its application for singers has remained largely unexamined.
This study followed three singers of varying ages and gender identities through a unique intervention. After an initial performance in front of an audience, participants underwent six 30-minute vocal coaching sessions over two months, incorporating sung improvisation. Following these sessions, they performed again under similar conditions. To measure the impact, participants completed self-report measures like the Kenny Music Performance Anxiety Inventory (K-MPAI) and the Music Performance Anxiety Inventory for Adolescents (MPAI-A) both before and after the intervention.
Participant feedback and observations also provided valuable insights into the experience. The results are promising: all participants reported reduced MPA symptoms after the sung improvisation intervention. While only one participant showed a statistically reliable change in anxiety levels, the overall data suggested strong "social validity." This indicates that, from the participants' perspective, improvisation holds significant potential as a valuable strategy for managing MPA within the vocal coaching studio. This research offers crucial insights for both vocal coaches and singers, contributing to a deeper understanding of how coaches can play a more effective role in helping singers overcome this common hurdle, ultimately unlocking their full performance potential.
Working alongside Research Supervisor, Dr. Heather Fletcher, Christabel is now embarking on a vital new project: a discussion focusing on where the responsibility lies for improving wellbeing in professional musicians and singers. This critical work explores the roles of various stakeholders, including management, labels, educational institutions, teachers, parents, individual musicians, and education policy makers, in fostering a more supportive environment for artists. Her ongoing project aims to contribute to a deeper understanding of shared responsibility in creating a healthier, more sustainable future for professional musicians.
Anne Marie Damman
Our esteemed VSC Independent Researcher, Anne Marie Damman, is collaborating with Research Supervisor Dr. Rockford Sansom on her new project, which studies the process of using Alba in rehearsal.
The Alba Method, or Alba Emoting, offers a ground-breaking approach to understanding emotion, treating them as physical states. By using specific postural, facial, and respiratory patterns, rooted in the psychophysiological research of Susanna Bloch and others, individuals can consciously access emotional states. This technique has proven effective in psychotherapy for releasing held emotions and trauma, and in acting, it provides a safe, non-traumatizing path to achieving realistic emotional performances. Its alignment with the work of luminaries like Paul Ekman and Frans de Waal strengthens its position as a truly forward-thinking foundation of modern actor training.
As a certified Alba Method teacher, Anne has experience in training actors in a physically-based, scientifically-backed way to access emotional clarity in their work, and that is the area she is interested in pursuing for her next phase of work as a researcher, artist, and educator.
For her research, Anne is taking MFA acting candidates on a transformative journey. Through classwork and projects, she'll train these actors, who are new to the effector patterns, enabling them to grasp and seamlessly integrate these techniques into their performance of the renowned play, "Our Town." Anne’s research aims to liberate them from the stress of "chasing" emotions, allowing them to focus entirely on the art of acting, confident that their bodies can authentically portray the play's heightened emotional states.
Dr. Sansom, a prominent voice teacher and communication coach, brings extensive experience to this collaboration. He has worked with senior leaders in business and politics, as well as actors and singers in major global productions. His academic background includes a PhD in education, an MFA in theatre, and multiple voice certifications. He was also the editor of the academic journal Voice and Speech Review for seven years, instrumental in its achieving Scopus Q1 status, and has authored or co-authored five books, including Voice Work, a leading text in vocal training. Recognised as a VASTA Lifetime Distinguished Member for his significant achievements in voice research, Dr. Sansom's expertise in connecting voice to teaching, learning, and research methods will be invaluable to Anne's project.