The Use of Vibrato in Belt and Legit Styles of Singing in Professional Female Musical Theatre Performers
Tuesday 17th March 2026, 5:00 PM - 7:00 PM (London Time)
Shaped by the popular music of its time, musical theatre blends storytelling with an ever-evolving range of vocal styles—from classical legit singing to jazz, hip-hop, and powerhouse belting. Whether it’s the lush, operatic sound of South Pacific, the jazzy bite of Chicago, or the rap-driven score of Hamilton, each musical reflects its musical influences while still drawing from shared vocal techniques. As MT has evolved from the Golden Age to today, performers are now expected to master both legit and belt styles. One of the clearest signals separating these styles is vocal vibrato. However, to what degree vibrato is used for different styles by the same performer has not been well studied. Despite its importance, much of what we understand about vibrato comes from laboratory-based studies that strip singing of its musical, stylistic, and performance context. This raises an important question: how do professional musical theatre performers employ vibrato in various styles?
This course takes vibrato out of the lab and into real-world performance. Drawing on recordings from five well-known professional musical theatre performers, the study examines vibrato use in live performances. By examining authentic performances rather than controlled vocal tasks, this work offers a rare glimpse at how vibrato functions as a stylistic tool in professional musical theatre singing.
This course connects current research with real-world pedagogy, revealing how elite musical theatre performers strategically use vibrato to shape style and storytelling, and showing how these insights can be applied in the voice studio to train stylistic flexibility and control.
Dr. Alyssa Becker
Dr. Alyssa Becker serves on the voice faculty at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa, where she teaches applied voice, vocal pedagogy, and maintains a private voice studio. She is also the artistic director the Drake University Voice Intensive, a high school vocal training program she co-founded. Dr. Becker combines performance, research, and teaching, with a focus on preparing singers to navigate a wide range of vocal styles.
Attend this course for as little as £22 as part of the Voice Professional Training CPD Award Scheme.
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Friday 12th June 2026
3:00 PM - 5:00 PM
(London Time)
Learning together: group singing and choral pedagogy
Dr David Cane
The benefits of group singing are well documented and well known. Singing together can foster a sense of social connection and community as well enhancing wellbeing and mood. However, group singing is not only a shared cultural and artistic experience, but can also be a powerful site of learning. While many of the developments in voice pedagogy have tended to centre around the one-to-one model of teaching, this course with Dr David Cane explores the pedagogical (and potentially the political) potential of teaching and learning to sing collectively.
Monday 15th June 2026
1:00 PM - 2:30 PM
Tuesday 16th June 2026
1:00 PM - 2:30 PM
Wednesday 17th June 2026
1:00 PM - 2:30 PM
Thursday 18th June 2026
1:00 PM - 2:30 PM
Friday 19th June 2026
1:00 PM - 2:30 PM
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Debbie Winter
Hosted by our very own Director of Studies (Debbie Winter), join our comprehensive Introduction to Academic Skills course, designed to equip you with essential tools and strategies for success in higher education. Perfect for bridging the gap between undergraduate and postgraduate study, this course offers a pathway to our full MA for students without an existing degree. We offer both live, interactive sessions and standalone, pre-recorded content.
Thursday 18th June 2026
9:00 PM - 11:00 PM
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Body wisdom for vocal performers and educators: What the heart and lungs can teach us about sustainable and joyful vocal practice!
Dr Mark Seton
Join Dr Mark Seton as he discusses his recent research with creatives (260 participants) on how many are seeking to be more empowered in their personal and professional lives, as well as more embodied and enduring in the midst of rapidly changing life and work. This foundational and interactive workshop takes us on an embodied journey into how the actual heart functions and its crucial partnership with our lungs. In this course we’ll learn from their collective wisdom how to remain healthily ‘opened’ and ‘closed’ at the same time, to breath in and breath out, allowing time for both refreshment and recovery between each beat of our hearts, and each drawing of breath.