Overview

This book should help conductors adjust expectations and methods to suit the condition and abilities of older singers. Maintaining one’s vocal skill in later years is the goal, since getting better may not be possible. Knowing that every choral conductor hopes a choir will improve from season to season, a new paradigm for the aging choir must be established. Once involved, the conductor of older singers is certain to reap the benefits of making music with people whose appreciation of the text, the music and the act of singing is deeper than in any younger ensemble.

Audience

Primary Subject: Singing & The Performing Arts / Voice and Vocal Health
Secondary Subject: Speech and Language Pathology / Voice and Voice Therapy
Audience Level: Professional

Foreword
Preface
About the Authors
Contributors

I. Introduction
1. Working with Older Singers
2. Choral Pedagogy and Vocal Health

II. Vocal Technique For The Older Singer
3. The Basics of Singing

III. Aspects Of Vocal Technique For Older Singers
4. Range, Stamina, and Voice Quality
5. Tone, Pitch Matching, and Tuning
6. Age- and Size-Appropriate Singing
7. Warm-Up and Cooldown Procedures
8. Special Considerations for Teaching Older Singers
9. Rhythm, Discipline, and Brain Function
10. Vibrato Rate

IV. Vocal Health and Pedagogy
11. Anatomy and Physiology of the Voice
12. Medical Care of Voice Disorders
13. Performing Arts Medicine and the Professional Voice User: Risk of Nonvoice Performance
14. Seating Problems of Vocalists

V. Vocal Health and the Older Singer
15. Vocal Health and the Older Singer
16. The Use of Nutrition and Integrative Medicine or Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) for Older Choral Singers
17. Vocal Exercise Physiology: Training for a Lifetime

VI. Repertoire For All Ages
18. Content and Language
19. Manner of Performance
20. Choral Diction

VII. Choral Rehearsal And The Older Singer
21. The Rehearsal Process
22. Choral Rehearsal and the Older Singer
23. Men and Singing
24. Women and Singing

VIII. Conclusion
25. Singing and Aging

Bibliography
Glossary
Index

About The Editors

Brenda Smith, DMA

Dr. Brenda Smith teaches studio voice, diction and vocal pedagogy at the University of Florida in Gainesville. She has been widely recognized for her contributions to the concept of lifelong singing through proper voice care. Dr. Smith is a lyric soprano with special interests in the recital and concert repertoire. In addition, Dr. Smith was translator, collaborator, and assistant to Dr. Wilhelm Ehmann and Dr. Frauke Haasemann, the pedagogues whose work in Germany and the United States developed the concept known as “voice building for choirs”. Dr. Smith works regularly as consultant, clinician, and conductor with amateur and professional choirs. She has been associated with the choirs of St. Ignatius Loyola, the Central City Chorus, and the Dessoff Choirs in New York City, the Mendelssohn Club of Philadelphia, the Cathedral Choral Society of the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C., as well as the choirs of the Epiphany Cathedral in Venice, Florida. As an active member of the National Association of Teachers of Singing and the American Choral Directors Association, Dr. Smith speaks as a resource for solo singers, voice teachers, and choral conductors.

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Robert Sataloff, MD

Robert T. Sataloff, MD, DMA, FACS, is a Professor and Chairman, Department of Otolaryngology- Head and Neck Surgery and Senior Dean for Clinical Academic Specialties, Drexel University College of Medicine. He is also Adjunct Professor in the departments of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery at Thomas Jefferson University, the University of Pennsylvania and Temple University, and on the faculty of the Academy of Vocal Arts.

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