Science vs Artistry: Key Issues in the Imagery Debate
Thursday 30th January 2025, 12:00 PM - 2:00 PM (London Time)
This practical and interactive course will introduce attendees to key issues surrounding imagery-use in singing pedagogy.
Imagery has been, and continues to be, a foundational strategy in the teaching of singing. With advances in understandings of voice science and wider educational theories, imagery strategies have developed to include a range of multi-modal approaches. However, despite these developments, there continues to be antagonism between imagery-based and science-based singing pedagogy.
This course will provide attendees with:
- An overview of imagery-use in the history of vocal pedagogy
- An outline of different imagery strategies available for singing teachers
- An evaluation of the effectiveness of different imagery strategies
- An introduction to the science vs artistry debate in relation to imagery-use
- Suggestions for further research and practice to address issues in the imagery debate
Through practical demonstration, theoretical discussion and peer-to-peer skill sharing, this course will give the audience an opportunity to consider the core issues and assess potential solutions to the imagery vs science debate. The central presentation will be followed by opportunity for Q&A, as well as sharing practical strategies that might be applicable to attendees current practice-based context.
Jenna Brown
Jenna has authored over 20 peer reviewed publications and conference proceedings, with recent publications on voice and choral pedagogy in the Journal of Voice, The Voice and Speech Review and Australian Voice.

Attend this course for as little as £22 as part of the Voice Professional Training CPD Award Scheme.
Learn MoreSorry, this is an archived short course...
We have plenty of upcoming short courses coming soon. See details of some of them below or look at the full list of short courses.

Thursday 1st May 2025
5:00 PM - 7:00 PM
Thursday 8th May 2025
5:00 PM - 7:00 PM
Thursday 15th May 2025
5:00 PM - 7:00 PM
Thursday 22nd May 2025
5:00 PM - 7:00 PM
Thursday 29th May 2025
5:00 PM - 7:00 PM
(London Time)
Trauma-Informed Voice Professional Certificate with Dr Elisa Monti

Dr Elisa Monti
This five-part certificate course is designed to help participants learn the theory and practice of trauma-informed approaches. The concepts and activities included are tailored to meet the needs of voice specialists who want to acquire more specific tools to navigate the space with their students and colleagues.


Tuesday 6th May 2025
3:00 PM - 5:00 PM
(London Time)
Mindfulness and Voice: Exploring the Intersection through Peer-Reviewed Literature

Catherine Brown
Despite strong interest, only a handful of peer-reviewed studies have examined the relationship between mindfulness and voice. Emerging research indicates that mindfulness can help voice users learn to respond to stress more effectively and may help them manage performance anxiety. In this course, we will examine several types of peer-reviewed literature: a) mindfulness studies that indirectly relate to voice work. b) We will review research that examines mindfulness as it relates to voice-adjacent fields (e.g., music performance anxiety and stammering/stuttering). c) We will look at the few published studies that have directly investigated the relationship between mindfulness and voice and d) we will examine directions for future qualitative and quantitative research.

Tuesday 6th May 2025
6:00 PM - 8:00 PM
Wednesday 7th May 2025
6:00 PM - 8:00 PM
Friday 9th May 2025
6:00 PM - 8:00 PM
(London Time)
Acceptance & Commitment Coaching for Beginners: An Overview and Guide for Using it to Address Common Performance-Related Problems of a Psychological Nature (3-part course)

Dr David Juncos
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy or Coaching (ACT) is an empirically-supported psychotherapy & coaching intervention for a variety of common issues facing student and professional musicians from across the world. Some of these include performance anxiety, perfectionism & self-criticism, procrastination, and work-related stress & burnout.