The William McIver Lecture in Vocal Pedagogy
presents
Ingo Titze, Ph.D.
Distinguished Professor, University of Iowa
Director, National Center for Voice and Speech
and
Katherine Verdolini Abbott, Ph.D.
Professor, University of Pittsburgh
Faculty, NCVS Summer Vocology Institute
Lecture Topics include:
• Fascinations with the Human Voice
• Motor Learning for Voice
• Acoustics of Singing Styles
• Laryngeal Biomechanics
• Semi-occluded Vocal Tract Techniques
Friday, January 27 – 1:00 pm - 5:00 pm
Saturday, January 28 – 9:00 am - 4:30 pm
William McIver Lecture In Vocal Pedagogy
January 27 – 28, 2012
University of North Carolina at Greensboro School of Music,
Theatre, and Dance
Ingo Titze, PhD
and
Katherine Verdolini Abbott, PhD
Schedule
All events in Room 217 except where noted
Friday, January 27
12:30 – Gathering/Coffee – Recital Hall Atrium
1:00 – Session I – Fascinations of the Human Voice
(Dr. Titze)
2:45 – Break
3:00 – Session II – Motor Learning for Voice
(Dr. Verdolini Abbott)
Saturday, January 28
9:00 – Gathering/Coffee – Recital Hall Atrium
9:30 – Session III – Vocal Exercises based on semi-occluded
Vocal tract techniques (Dr. Titze)
10:45 – Break
11:00 – Session IV – Laryngeal Biomechanics/Wound Healing
(Dr. Verdolini Abbott)
12:30 – Lunch
2:00 – Session V – Acoustics of Singing Styles
(Dr. Titze)
3:30 – Break
3:45 – Q & A/Book Signing
(Dr. Verdolini Abbott and Dr. Titze)
4:30 – Conclude/Departure
Ingo R. Titze is a University of Iowa Foundation Distinguished Professor in the
Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders and the School of Music.
He also directs the National Center for Voice and Speech, which is an Institute
of the University of Utah in Salt Lake City, with a companion site at the
University of Iowa. The NCVS also collaborates with many institutions around
the country.
Although he was formally educated as a physicist (Ph.D.) and engineer
(M.S.E.E.), Dr. Titze has applied his scientific knowledge to a lifelong love of
clinical voice and vocal music. Specifically, his research interests include
biomechanics of human tissues, acoustic phonetics, speech science, voice
disorders, professional voice production, musical acoustics, and the computer
simulation of voice.
Dr. Titze has published over 250 articles in scientific and educational journals,
authored three books entitled Principles of Voice Production, The Myoelastic-
Aerodynamic Theory of Phonation, and most recently Fascinations with the
Human Voice. He has also co-edited two books in a series entitled Vocal Fold
Physiology. He is currently completing an additional book entitled Vocology.
He is an associate editor of the Journal of Singing and has written a bi-monthly
column in this Journal for 20 years.
Dr. Titze is the father of vocology, a specialty within speech-language
pathology. He defined the word and the specialty as “the science and practice of
voice habilitation.” In many ways, it parallels audiology. The discipline focuses
on the sound-producing organ rather than the sound- receiving organ in terms of
prevention and care. A Summer Vocology Institute is ongoing, in which speech
language pathologist, otolaryngologist, speech trainers, and singing teachers can
get intensive, graduate level training in voice.
Most recently, Dr. Titze has formally begun to address the vocal problems of
teachers, which comprise about 4% of the working population. Because of the
many hours of vocal engagement with students, many teachers fatigue after
three to four hours of talking. They don’t recover from day to day, or week to
week. Research is underway in Dr. Titze’s laboratories to study the effects of
long-term vibration on cells and extra-cellular tissues in the vocal folds. Also
underway is the development of therapy techniques to improve the economy of
sound production in teachers.
Dr. Katherine Verdolini Abbott is a Professor of Communication Science and
Disorders in the Department of Otolaryngology, University of Pittsburgh. She is
also a speech and language pathologist in the Voice Center at the University.
Prior to coming to Pittsburgh, she was a Speech/Language Pathologist at Barnes
Hospital in St. Louis and at the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary at Beth
Israel Deaconess Medical Center in the Brigham and Women’s Hospital. Dr.
Verdolini Abbott earned her undergraduate degrees from La Sorbonne in Paris,
France and from Indiana University. She studied French Language and
Civilization Studies as well as German and Italian, respectively. She earned a
Master’s degree from Indiana University in Speech and Hearing Sciences and a
doctorate in Experimental Psychology from Washington University. In addition,
she has a Laurea in Lettere e Filosofia (Master of Arts equivalent) in Italian and
Music History from the Universita’ di Ferrara, Ferrara, Italy.
Dr. Verdolini Abbott is a member of several professional and scientific
societies, including the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (in
which she received the Honors of the Association, their highest honor), the
International Society for Women in Cognitive Neuroscience, the American
Psychological Association, and the Voice Foundation. She has received
numerous awards, such as the 2008 Editor’s Award for best paper of the year in
the Journal of Voice, and she was selected by the Dean for recognition as
representative of the School of Health And Rehabilitation Sciences at Women in
Medicine & Science Reception, “Celebrating the Outstanding Achievements of
Women, Women Faculty in Medicine and Science, University of Pittsburgh. In
addition to her scientific achievements, Dr. Verdolini Abbott is currently
working towards her Masters if Divinity at the Pittsburgh Theological Seminary.
Dr. William McIver was a member of the voice faculty at the University of
North Carolina at Greensboro for over twenty-five years, before joining the
faculty at the Eastman School of Music in 1999. At the time of his death in
September of 2003, he had reached the pinnacle of his professional career,
serving as the national president of the National Association of Teachers of
Singing. Throughout his career, Dr. McIver maintained a passionate interest and
involvement in the science of vocal pedagogy and its application in the studio.
As an ongoing memorial to Bill, the UNCG voice faculty established the annual
William McIver Lectureship in Vocal Pedagogy in 2006.
