#VocalFam you've waited 9 years for an episode dedicated to vocal distortions, well here it is! Toni Linke, @toni_linke_music (IG), @ToniLinke (YouTube) joins us to share his work on vocal distortions, which has become one of his international identities. Toni has shared his work throughout the world with a robust online following thanks to his work on Rough Vocal Effects and distortions. We walk through various types of sounds and how you might start a student navigating into this world. If you're interested in more, definitely check out one of Toni's workshops or his YouTube channel for more!

This week Prof. Pigott and Dr. P were joined by Dr. Mark Tempesta. Mark is Assistant Professor of Voice and Vocal Pedagogy at the University of North Texas. We learned about Mark's singing journey and dual art and science background. He shared how he got started collaborating and interested in CVT, which you could hear more about from this season's earlier episode with Mathias Aaen. Dr. Tempesta shared some of his research he presented at ICVT last summer and updated us on work they have going on in their lab at UNT. This is definitely one for you voice science and pedagogy nerds!

#VocalFam! We had an exciting and informative episode this week as Prof. Pigott, Benjamin, and Dr. P were joined by Dr. Marita Stryker and Joanne Bozeman to discuss their research into singing and postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS), Ehlers-Danlos Syndromes (EDS), and hypermobility spectrum disorders (HSD). Joining Dr. Stryker were her students Hailey Guptail, Wilson Lindberg, Emma Mach, and Ava Messinger to share their Chronically Singing project, https://www.chronicallysinging.com/ which is bringing awareness for singers and voice teachers regarding all of these conditions. 

This week Prof. Pigott and Dr. P hosted Lynn Helding, John Nix, and Allen Henderson, the directors of the NATS Science Informed Voice Pedagogy Institute. Now in the 4th year of the institute, our guests updated on many aspects for one of this summer's great continuing education opportunities. https://www.nats.org/Science-Informed_Pedagogy_Institute.html

Prof. Pigott and Dr. P were joined for their annual chat with Embodied Music Lab's Dr. Ian Howell. EML is in the process of launching several courses ranging from the online version of their Acoustic Vocal Pedagogy Workshop to a new Optimizing Online Music Lessons and a third course on The Reflective Studio Music Teacher which will launch later this spring. If you enjoyed Dr. Kelly's episode from last fall on the makeup of a voice lesson, that will be a course you'll want to explore. All info is on the EML website. Check it out!

This week Prof. Pigott and Dr. P hosted Zipporah Peddle an Paul Patinka, the new associate editors of the Journal of Singing "Diverse Voices" column. As a pair they have authored several papers analyzing the composers that our repertoire represents and how we can be more inclusive in our repertoire selection as teachers. A fantastic conversation as you explore repertoire for your spring semester.

#VocalFam, Happy 2026! To kick off the new year Prof. Pigott, Alice, and Dr. P hosted Matt Edwards, Aaron Johnson, and Denis Michael Rudisch to discuss their article "Investigating Vocal Tract Configurations Across Different Belting Qualities in Female and Male Musical Theater Singers Using Real-Time Dynamic MRI," which was published in Journal of Voice last April. This episode is a great example of interdisciplinary voice science work that generated from the voice studio, into the lab, and has now returned wonderful insights back to voice teachers. A perfect episode to kickoff this semester!

The 9th annual VocalFri Christmas episode, our sequel to last year's Wicked Part 1 review, our Wicked: For Good review. This was also a special reunion episode. Dr. P and Prof. Pigott were joined again by Dr. P's kids, Charlie and Olivia, but also a surprise visit by original podcast co-host Michael, who joined us for the first time since VocalFri Christmas VI.

We gave our overall impressions, covered the Act structure, the new original songs, John M. Chu's directorial vision, our performers, possible award nominations, and the 2 film structure. Everything you've been waiting for, with no worries about spoilers since this film was released over a month ago. 

#VocalFam, what an incredible conversation to start your December! This week Prof. Pigott and Dr. P were joined by the author Dave Maass and illustrator Patrick Lay of the Graphic Novel Death Strikes, along with CU grad students Alice Del Simone (as a guest), Andrew Konopak. This summer Alice and Andy had the chance to perform the Viktor Ullmann opera Der Kaiser von Atlantis with the Colorado Mahler Fest, and then they were invited by Dave to join the Death Strike panel at San Diego Comic Con!!!! Here about Dave and Patrick's process of creating the graphic novel with their team, which also included Ezra Rose, Richard Bruning, and Karen Berger. Learn about how they travelled to Terezin to create the visuals for the scenic settings and how the letterer created the atmosphere of the text from the original source material from the opera. This is arguably, the most VocalFri episode in history: a graphic novel about an opera! 

This week Alice and Dr. P were joined by Dr. Michaela Kelly to discuss her dissertation work and Journal of Singing article "The Composition of a Voice Lesson: How a Motor Learning Classification Framework Affects Teacher Effectiveness." This was a wonderful chat full of ideas of how to freshen up your teaching, continue towards student centeredness, and avoid burnout. Definitely check out the article and then read more in the full dissertation.