Meribeth Dayme

Voice Education in the 21st Century

Meribeth Dayme

Meetings such as PEVOC are great opportunities to raise questions about where we are going in the field of voice education. This presentation will include the following:

Are we maintaining a balance between intellectual and practical approaches? How far a field are we willing to look for answers to our vocal needs? These and other questions pose some real dilemmas for those planning curricula today. The demands of academia are usually those that can be tested, quantified, and explained to other faculty that have no understanding of the human voice. When the voice is forced to fit an intellectual model, it does not always yield the result we want. Is there another possibly more satisfactory academic model? Are we losing the ability to take the kinds of risks that performers need to take to be compelling? Are we educating a whole person that can produce a healthy, beautiful voice and performance? Are we ready to expand our boundaries in Voice Education? The answers to these and other questions will propel us into the 21^st Century.