Voices of Influence: Exploring the Journey of a Teacher and Student in the Voice Studio

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Brian Manternach examines the dynamic relationship of influence between teacher and student in the voice studio. Relating personal stories and formative experiences, the book is part pedagogical guide, part memoir, and part exploration of how vocal philosophies and practices evolve as they are passed from teacher to student.

Part One introduces readers to noted voice professor Robert J. Harrison, exploring biographical elements that have formed how he thinks, what he believes, and how that has informed his life as an artist and as a teacher. Part Two examines Harrisons teaching approaches, including tactics he used in the voice studio to address aspects of respiration, phonation, resonance, registration, and articulation. It also discusses how Harrison taught artistry, from how he defines his own musical tastes and sensibilities to how he taught communicative singing. Part Three presents the complicated idea of legacy, considering how we might remember teachers and their influence once their formal instruction has concluded. Manternach also considers how to contextualize the work of teachers from previous generations to fairly assess their contributions.

Along the way, Manternach describes how he has been influenced by Harrison now that he is a teacher himself. He outlines areas of pedagogical agreement as well as disagreement and indicates howthrough the educational chain of successionsome of Harrisons practices are passed on practically verbatim while others have necessarily evolved in order to serve the current generation of students.

Author Bio

Brian Manternach is an Associate Professor at the University of Utahs Department of Theatre and a Research Associate at the Utah Center for Vocology, where he serves on the faculty of the Summer Vocology Institute. He is an Associate Editor of the Journal of Singing and a columnist for Classical Singer. His research, reviews, articles, and essays have appeared in numerous voice-related publications.