events
Secrets of the Spoken Voice
Friday 16th April 2021: 7.30pm - 8.30pm and Saturday 17th April 2021: 2pm - 6.30pm
BVA@home event presented online via Zoom
The BVA is proud to support actors, public speakers and voice-over artists with our next big online event: a series of short workshops on 16th and 17th April 2021. This is an entirely practical event - not a PowerPoint in sight!
Friday 16th April 2021: WORLD VOICE DAY, 7.30pm - 8.30pm
- Barbara Houseman: The Communicative Heart of Voicework – FREE EVENT
Saturday 17th April 2021: 2pm - 6.30pm
- Matt Dudley: Moving and Being Moved: Finding Freedom and Ease with Fitzmaurice Voicework®
- Yvonne Morley- Chisholm: Holding the Mirror Up to Nature
Vocal skills for speaking on Elizabethan stages, the intimate vocal booth and encompassing all those who rely on their spoken voice. - Joanna Weir Ouston: Linklater Voice Work
Linklater's philosophy and use of imagery to help free the voice and deepen the speaker's/actor's connection to text.
Events on both days will be presented online via Zoom. Participants will receive an email 24-hours prior to the event containing an event invitation, URL (web address), meeting ID, and password.
Download a copy of this event's poster
Speakers
Barbara Houseman
'The Communicative Heart of Voice Work'
A free, healthy, expressive voice has three elements at its root - commitment, connection, ease. Commitment comes from a confidence that we have the right to speak. Connection comes from an ability to trust ourselves so we can let go ourselves and focus on the person/people we want to communicate with. Ease comes from a belief that it is safe to be heard.
Pushing and straining our voice, as much as holding it back and damping it down, come from a lack of confidence, trust and ease. This workshop will explore practical ways of building vocal confidence, trust and ease which will allow them to approach any kind of voice work from a healthier perspective.
Barbara Houseman has worked in theatre for over 40 years both as a voice, text & acting coach and as a director. After 9 years dividing her time between directing and voice work, she spent 6 years in the world renowned Voice Department at the Royal Shakespeare Company, working alongside Cicely Berry and then became Associate Director at the Young Vic, in London. For the last 22 years she has worked freelance on shows and with individual clients in the theatre and corporate worlds. Recent shows include The Ferryman and The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time at the Gielgud; End Game & Rosencrantz & Guildenstern are Dead at the Old Vic; Kenneth Branagh Season at the Garrick, Dr Faustus at the Duke of York's. Individual clients include Jessie Buckley, Clive Owen, Lenny Henry, Jude Law and Daniel Radcliffe. She has worked at the Open Air Theatre, Regent's Park since 2009 and as Season Associate Director since 2012 working on all the plays and musicals. She is also a visiting professor at the Universities of Tennessee and Connecticut and author of 'Finding Your Voice' and 'Tackling Text and Subtext'.
Matt Dudley: Lecturer at the Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts and Associate Teacher of Fitzmaurice Voicework®
'Moving and Being Moved: Finding Freedom and Ease with Fitzmaurice Voicework®'
Matt will share how he integrates principles of Fitzmaurice Voicework® within his wider practice as a lecturer and voice coach. This will be a practical and inclusive whole group session where you will be invited to work on the floor, seated and in standing. You might find it useful to have a Yoga mat, cushions and a blanket to hand to use during the session.
Yvonne Morley-Chisholm: Voice, Text, Accent and Communication skills
'Holding the Mirror Up to Nature'
Yvonne has worked as a voice teacher and vocal coach for thirty-eight years. Formerly Head of Voice for the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art she is an associate with the Royal National Theatre, The Royal Shakespeare Company and Shakespeare's Globe. Beyond theatre her work includes BBC TV, BBC radio and several independent producers. Within the world of voice artistry she delivers workshops and coaching to those involved in animation, long-form narration and computer games. Theatre work includes productions in and out of London's West End working with actors, singers, dancers. Work abroad includes Canada, America, Europe and the Middle East.
Publications: Yvonne co-wrote 'More Care For Your Voice'; (published by the Voice Care Network) which has sold over 11,500 copies. She is currently writing 'Building Character Voice'; to cover safe and creative approaches to manipulate the vocal tract for animation and character voices on stage, screen and in the studio. Her APP: Voice Coach was launched in 2020 on both Apple and Android.
Papers and keynote lectures: Yvonne has presented papers to the British Voice Association, the Voice Care Network UK and the Midlands Voice Conference. She regularly delivers the keynote lectures for teachers including via the Institute of Education at University College London.
Current research: Yvonne founded A Voice for Richard, a pioneering collaboration with members of the team who discovered the mortal remains of King Richard III, to give him literal voice. Advanced motion capture technology will record an actor's facial and vocal performance in original pronunciation. The research is gathering evidence from the cranio-facial reconstruction along with detailed forensic psychological profiling, dentistry, linguistics and several other specialist fields.
Yvonne serves as a board member for the Riding Lights Theatre Company. In August 2020 she moved to a small-holding in North Yorkshire where she is creating a Studio and Wellness Centre.
Joanna Weir Ouston
Linklater's Legacy: Freeing the Actor's Voice, Imagination and Performance
Joanna is a designated Linklater teacher since 1991, is Senior Voice Consultant at The Oxford School of Drama, and works as a freelance voice and performance coach in theatre and business. An actor and director, in 1989 she completed post-graduate voice studies with distinction at the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama in London where she subsequently taught on the MA Voice Studies course for 27 years, and also the BA Acting programme. She has worked for the Royal Shakespeare Company, Young Vic, West End and regional theatres, the BBC, and also in Australia, Europe, and the United States.
Joanna will endeavour to provide a practical, experiential understanding of Linklater voice work, including its philosophy and use of imagery to help free the voice and deepen the speaker's/actor's connection to text. She will explore 'release' and the 'natural breath', how these manifest practically in the work, and their positive effect on the ability to control nerves and achieve peak performance; and will share some of the exercises in the progression which help increase vocal nuance, bring the voice more forward and expand expressive range.
programme
Friday 16th April 2021: WORLD VOICE DAY
7.30pm - 8.30pm
Barbara Houseman: The Communicative Heart of Voicework
Saturday 17th April 2021 (2pm - 6.30pm)
2.30pm - 3.30pm
Matt Dudley: Moving and Being Moved: Finding Freedom and Ease with Fitzmarice Voicework®
3.30pm - 3.45pm
Break
3.45pm - 4.45pm
Yvonne Morley-Chisholm: Holding the Mirror Up to Nature
5.00pm - 6.00pm
Joanna Weir Ouston: Linklater Voice Work
6.00pm - 6.30pm
Panel discussion
Download a copy of this event's provisional programme
Prices
Friday 16th April 2021: World Voice Day
- FREE EVENT (See 'How to book' below)
Saturday 17th April 2021
- EARLY BIRD Members: £30 | After March 16th: £35
- EARLY BIRD Non-members: £45 | After March 16th: £50
- EARLY BIRD Full-time Students: £20 | After March 16th: £25
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