Brian Kremer, assistant professor of music theatre, presented his research on the training of transgender singers at the International Congress of Voice Teachers in Stockholm, Sweden.
Brian Kremer, assistant professor of music theatre, was part of a panel of voice teachers who presented at the “International Congress of Voice Teachers: The Future of Singing” in Stockholm, Sweden, on Aug. 2-6, 2017.
Kremer was joined in the presentation, titled “Teaching Transgender Singers,” fby Rachel Inselman, professor of voice and voice area chair at the University of Minnesota Duluth; Loraine Sims, associate professor and vocal area coordinator at Louisiana State University; and Liz Jackson Hearns, founder and owner of the Voice Lab in Chicago. Each member of the panel presented on a different aspect of vocal training.
Kremer focused on creating a welcoming, safe and supportive learning environment for transgender singing students in the classroom and voice studio. This included discussion about how to better understand gender identity, expression and perception, the use of gender-neutral language when describing vocal sound, rethinking the way we classify voices by removing gender identity from the process, and successful approaches to assigning student repertoire.
Taking place once every four years, The International Congress of Voice Teachers is a prestigious and well-attended gathering of voice care professionals, including surgeons, scientists, speech language pathologists, voice teachers and performing artists from all over the world. An exciting blend of cutting-edge presentations and dynamic musical performances, the next Congress is scheduled to take place in Vienna, Austria, in 2021.