Professional Voice Practice - MA / MFA / PgDip at Birmingham City University

Realise your potential as a creative practitioner and train to be a professional voice coach at Royal Birmingham Conservatoire. You will gain highly specialised knowledge in a range of professional contexts and develop advanced expertise as a voice coach, teacher or performer.

Through reading, discussion, reflective writing and practising as a coach or teacher, you will relate theory and practice and learn the ways of thinking and working of a professional voice practitioner. Through full engagement with the opportunities the course provides, you will be prepared for work as a voice practitioner in private practice, in Further or Higher Education, in business, in theatre, performing arts and media.

The starting point is work on yourself: i.e. your voice and its source in your body and breath. It is the experiential understanding of this process and listening to your colleagues on the course that informs your own pedagogy. At Royal Birmingham Conservatoire we advocate a physiological and imaginative approach to voice work that develops the 'practical, intellectual, physical and emotional skills of students in an atmosphere that is enabling, supportive and empowering'*.

Through core learning based on how the voice works, your imagination will fuel the development of your personal artistry and development. If you aspire to learn in-depth, specialist knowledge in professional voice practice, then this programme will not only teach you the skills, but broaden your vital industry connections.

The foundation of the course is rooted in the principles and practices of healthy vocal use. Exploring topics such as vocal function and dysfunction, phonetics and accent analysis, you will build an in-depth awareness of professional voice practice. The content of the course spans from teaching you practice-based methods and strategies to theoretical research.

We will help you establish links to industry through our strong connections with leading companies such as the RSC, Birmingham REP Theatre and Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre. We have a working relationship with the Royal Shakespeare Company and with the company’s Head of Voice, Kate Godfrey. We also have connections at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital Voice Clinic which can offer students insights to clinical practice. Our Professional Voice Practice course has been developed with the support of the Royal Shakespeare Company. Graduates have gone on to fulfil very exciting careers, working professionally at prestigious organisations such as the RSC, The Royal Court, the Minack, The Cambridge Theatre, the Mountview Theatre Academy and ALRA.

With regular masterclasses and a compulsory placement module you will gain excellent insight and experience of working professional practice. Your course will be led by a mixture of visiting and in-house tutors, all of which have extensive industry experience. Alex Taylor, your course director, has worked internationally with schools such as Juilliard. Alex’s influential background brings a wealth of experience to the course, bringing you comprehensive, informed and exciting study. Our visiting tutors’ range of experience varies from work with professional theatre companies, the field of film and television, Voice Care Network UK, NHS Direct, the BBC, UK Borders and many more