There are many excellent books detailing methods to help actors develop their voices, but not much has been published about vocal coaching itself, apart from the definitive guide to Vocal Coaching Nan-Withers Wilson’s book Vocal Direction for the Theatre, and the highly informative publication How to Use a Vocal Coach: A Practical Guide for Directors prepared by Nancy Houfek, for the Voice and Speech Trainer’s Association (VASTA). This thesis documents my personal journey into the world of vocal coaching in five productions. Specifically, I explore the differences between vocal coaching in the university setting versus the professional theatre setting. I describe the steps I took to prepare for productions, the influences that guided me, and the invaluable discoveries I made along the way.

abstract: The work of collaborative pianists can vary widely, requiring a large spectrum of musical and foreign language skills. In addition, many non-musical skills are required of collaborative pianists in order to adapt to various types of work, the roles they assume, and the needs of the people they encounter professionally. Collaborative pianists usually develop good habits for survival on the job, but rarely receive preliminary training in capacities such as facilitation, maintaining objectivity in collaboration, asking good questions, and giving feedback effectively. The emerging field of teaching artistry offers a wealth of information for the development of these non-musical skills in collaborative pianists. The skills necessary for teaching artistry and collaborative piano frequently overlap, which is instructive for collaborative pianists as they prepare for their various musical and leadership roles. This paper explores shared practices between these disciplines, how they can enhance the activities of a collaborative pianist, and also help them develop skills as arts advocates. Advocating techniques for new music and audience engagement are addressed, as well as programming, content development and building teams around projects. The idea of the collaborative pianist becoming a teaching artist is also explored, as the diverse activities and experiences of a collaborative pianist can serve as valuable resources. All of these approaches to non-musical skills focus on building strong processes, leading to creative activities that are process-driven rather than product-driven. This study seeks to enrich activities of collaborative pianists through the application of teaching artist capacities and pave pathways for new, more effective professional collaborations. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Music 2020

This thesis is a personal narrative of my experience as vocal coach on a production of Ken Ludwig's Shakespeare in Hollywood directed by BT McNicholl and performed in the Raymond Hodges Theatre of Virginia Commonwealth University in November 2005. Chapter one covers my identification of the play's vocal and aural challenges; what I did to prepare for those challenges; the research I gathered on 1930s Hollywood prototypes for the play; an examination of Shakespearean verse, especially that in "A Midsummer Night's Dream" and how Ludwig synthesized Shakespeare's verse with that of his own.Chapter two is divided into an account of the rehearsal process; a description of my sessions with the individual actors and an exploration of the dynamics of the vocal coach-director relationship. Chapter three focuses on the finished production and summarizes my response to the experience.

I denna studie undersöktes hur sångpedagoger ser på prestationsångest och mentala blockeringar hos sina elever. Prestationsångest hos sångare är ett relativt outforskat område, men det är en känsla som drabbar de flesta som utövar musik. Syftet med studien var att undersöka hur sångpedagoger både resonerar kring och hur de hanterar sina elevers prestationsångest och andra mentala blockeringar. Arbetet genomfördes i första hand genom en enkät som sedan låg till grund för intervjuer med åtta verksamma sångpedagoger. Studien vilar på en sociokognitiv teori. Resultatet visar att alla sångpedagoger frekvent möter elever med prestationsångest och att de alla har liknande verktyg för att hantera det. En upptäckt som gjordes var att det sällan talas om prestationsångest i musikundervisning, där många paralleller gjordes till idrottspsykologi som är ett mer utforskat ämne. Sångpedagogerna använde många verktyg som tangerade mental träning men ingen av dem ansåg sig använda någon särskild metod. Det är i nuläget ovanligt att lyfta mental träning i musikundervisning men ett konstaterande som görs är att sångpedagogen måste lära sig att hantera elevers prestationsångest för att kunna hjälpa dem vidare i utvecklingen. Resultatet visar att ett gemensamt ordförråd och gemensamma verktyg att ta till vore gynnsamt. / This study examined vocal coaches’ view on performance anxiety and mental blockages in their students. Performance anxiety is a relatively unexplored area, but it’s a feeling that affects most people who practice music. The purpose of the study was to investigate how vocal coaches both reason about and how they handle their students’ performance anxiety and other mental blockages. The work was carried out through a pilot study that formed the basis for interviews with eight practicing vocal coaches. The study is based on a social cognitive theory. Results show that all vocal coaches meet students with performance anxiety on a daily basis and that they all have similar tools to work with it. A discovery that was made was that the subject of performance anxiety was rarely talked about in music education and many parallels were made to sports psychology, which is a more explored area. The vocal coaches used many tools that are used in mental training, but they all made it clear that they did not use any particular method. It is currently unusual to highlight mental training in music education, but it’s clear that the vocal coach must learn to handle the students’ performance anxiety in order to help them further in development. The result show that a common vocabulary and common tools to use would be beneficial.

Die zunehmende Praxisorientierung des Musikunterrichts, welche im Laufe der letzten Jahrzehnte mit dem allmählichen Paradigmenwechsel didaktischer Konzeptionen einherging, führte u.a. dazu, dass Improvisation als ein wesentlicher Teil der Musizierpraxis in den Lehrplan aufgenommen wurde. Was sich diesbezüglich in der Realität hinter den geschlossenen Türen der Musikräume abspielt, beabsichtigt diese Arbeit zu enthüllen. Unter der Forschungsfrage: "Welche Möglichkeiten der Realisierung und effizienten Vermittlung von Improvisation bietet der gymnasiale Musikunterricht und wie werden diese derzeit in der Praxis umgesetzt?" wird dabei zugleich die Bedeutung von Improvisation im Kontext des Musiklernens und –lehrens einbezogen. Um das Bild von einer Improvisationspraxis, wie sie an heutigen Gymnasien tatsächlich stattfindet, zu fundieren und auszubauen, werden die Erfahrungen und Meinungen von Lehrkräften auf Grundlage einer durchgeführten Befragung zusammengefasst und diskutiert.

Die zunehmende Praxisorientierung des Musikunterrichts, welche im Laufe der letzten Jahrzehnte mit dem allmählichen Paradigmenwechsel didaktischer Konzeptionen einherging, führte u.a. dazu, dass Improvisation als ein wesentlicher Teil der Musizierpraxis in den Lehrplan aufgenommen wurde. Was sich diesbezüglich in der Realität hinter den geschlossenen Türen der Musikräume abspielt, beabsichtigt diese Arbeit zu enthüllen. Unter der Forschungsfrage: "Welche Möglichkeiten der Realisierung und effizienten Vermittlung von Improvisation bietet der gymnasiale Musikunterricht und wie werden diese derzeit in der Praxis umgesetzt?" wird dabei zugleich die Bedeutung von Improvisation im Kontext des Musiklernens und –lehrens einbezogen. Um das Bild von einer Improvisationspraxis, wie sie an heutigen Gymnasien tatsächlich stattfindet, zu fundieren und auszubauen, werden die Erfahrungen und Meinungen von Lehrkräften auf Grundlage einer durchgeführten Befragung zusammengefasst und diskutiert.