BVA HIGHLIGHT OF THE YEAR... by Janice Chapman
On July 10,11 and 12, 2008 the British Voice Assoc. will collaborate with the Guildhall School of Music and Drama and the Barbican Arts Centre, London in presenting a memorable conference. This event will celebrate the human voice in all its states, everything from the super-athletes of the voice world in all spheres of human communication through to dysfunctional and diseased voices and everything in between. It brings together performers, teachers, scientists, doctors, ENT surgeons, speech and language therapists, psychologists, professional voice users, manual therapists and practitioners from associated fields.
The academic programme each day consists of a plenary lecture and workshop by one of the three outstanding international speakers (Peak Woo, Ron Scherer and Ron Morris), a free paper session, two tranches of practical 'hands-on' workshops, and an 'Artistry in Action' session, by the Guildhall Vocal Dept.,(Thurs.), the Music Theatre Department of the Royal Academy of Music (Fri.), and the famous Drama Department of the Guildhall School (Sat.).There will be social events including a Conference dinner catered by Searcy's Restaurant in the Barbican's lovely Conservatory and a special concert in St. Giles' Cripplegate by Guildhall staff and students. During the refreshment breaks there will be time to explore the exhibition which is being held in the Garden Room at the Barbican during Thursday and Friday, and at the Guildhall School on Saturday.
The call for papers and workshops has produced a list of participants coming from as far afield as Australia, the USA and from all parts of Europe, many of whom have international reputations in the multidisciplinary voice world. The Guildhall School offers a wonderful opportunity for interaction as the conference is taking place during term-time and students will be participating in the running of the event. The BVA is most grateful to the Guildhall and the Barbican for their vision, enthusiasm, energy and collaborative expertise in planning this conference.
The response to the call for papers and workshops was tremendous and the topics range very widely in all spheres of our multidisciplinary interests. At this stage, it would be invidious to single out any of the presenters and topics, but I can only say that the programme will be bursting with 'goodies' for everyone. Each of our invited speakers will present their workshop on each day so delegates will have the opportunity to experience all three. The free papers and workshops will offer a wide choice for attendees.
An interim programme will be posted on the website (www.british-voice-association.com) shortly. As we expect a large turnout for this conference and space will be limited, I would recommend early registration.
It will be an event not to be missed!