About

The British Voice Association (BVA) is a membership organisation, and registered Charity, with almost 400 current members. Formed in 1983 as the Voice Research Society, we are a multidisciplinary association of professionals whose common cause is the human voice, its care, healthy use, and performance.

Our Membership Get Involved BVA Council BVA Patrons Awards & Prizes

Our Membership

We welcome all voice specialists and organisations. Our membership encompasses actors, acoustic engineers, educators, ENT/laryngologists and clinicians, hypnotherapists, psychologists, physiotherapists, researchers, singers, speech and language therapists, teachers, vocal coaches. We exist to connect, educate, and support voice professionals and multidisciplinary teams to access and share the latest research and best practice.

The work of the BVA includes running professional (CPD accredited) updating courses (in-person and online), sharing voice health resources with the public, and providing a forum for our members to network, collaborate and share best practice and research.

Our mission is to:

connect our members to the wider professional community through access to the exclusive resources of BVA membership: discounted events; our magazine Communicating Voice

educate occupational and professional voice users, health care professionals and trainees, teachers and managers on the latest research and best practice through live and online specialist events; our free resources

support greater awareness in the general public of good vocal health, the prevention and alleviation of voice disorders by providing free resources and the Directory of UK voice clinics.

Get Involved

Volunteer members are the backbone of the BVA. We have teams focused on events and education, on communications, and a dedicated working party for the annual Voice Clinics Forum. Together with the BVA Council, they identify voice issues that require advocacy or a special campaign. For example, for the BVA, 2024 is the year of the Speaking Voice.

Being a member of Council and or volunteering for the BVA is a great way not only to have a lasting impact on the field of voice but also to collaborate and acquire new skills (social media, event organisation and assistance, copywriting, research review, leadership). If you would like to contribute contact: administrator@britishvoiceassociation.org.uk

We invite you to join us.

JOIN US

The BVA Council

The current Council comprises:

Nikolaos Spantideas (President), Sarah Wright-Owens (Company Secretary), Rebecca Moseley-Morgan (Treasurer), Jonathan Fishman, Louise Gibbs, Geraldine McElearney, Rosario Mawby (co-opted), Jane Oakshott, Samuel Queen, Rebecca Schwarz.

Jonathan Fishman BM BCh (Oxon), MA (Cantab), PhD, FRCS (ORL-HNS)

Jonathan is an ENT Consultant and Laryngologist at the Royal National Throat, Nose & Ear Hospital, University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and Honorary Clinical Lecturer at University College London. He is passionate about treating conditions of the larynx. He was awarded a PhD in 2013 for his research. He has received numerous awards, grants, prizes and research fellowships and has published widely in the field of laryngology. He has lectured both nationally and internationally and has organised and chaired sessions at National, European and International meetings pertaining to laryngology. He is Senior Editor for the Journal of Laryngology & Otology.

Louise Gibbs LTCL, MA, MEd, FHEA

Louise Gibbs is a jazz singer, composer and educator, and graduate of Columbia University, New York. She has taught and given workshops on jazz performance, improvisation and voice at major conservatoires and universities in the UK…

Geraldine McElearney MA

After a 20-plus year career elsewhere, Gerry returned to the world of voice in 2013 to work as a singing teacher. She had reluctantly abandoned singing after college (GSMD) where her voice had become beset with problems…

Rosario Mawby BA Hons, MA, MPhil, PGCert, SFHEA

Rosario is a performer, vocal coach, musical director, entrepreneur, and lecturer. In addition to her degrees, respectively in music, performance and education, she holds a PGCert in Professional Academic Practice…

Rebecca Moseley-Morgan PhD

Royal College of Music alumna Rebecca Moseley-Morgan has worked nationally and internationally as a professional opera singer. Rebecca is currently chair of the Education Working Party…

Jane Oakshott MBE, BA, MA LAMDA (Gold)

Works for the three Universities in Leeds and in private practice with a wide range of professional voice users…

Samuel Queen MA(Cantab), MA(London), AdvDip (RAM)

Sam trained on the opera course at the Royal Academy of Music after reading English at Cambridge…

Rebecca Schwarz BA(Hons) LLCM, ALCM(TD)

Rebecca has been teaching singing for almost twenty years and running choirs for almost as long…

Nikolaos Spantideas MSc, PhD, MRCS(ENT)

Nikos is an ENT specialty surgical registrar and a Speech and Language Therapist…

Sarah Wright-Owens BSc (Hons), SLT, GBSM

Sarah works as a Vocal Rehabilitation Coach and Singing Teacher in private practice…

BVA Patrons

Ron Baken PhD

Currently the Vocal Tract Physiologist at the New York Eye and Ear Infirmary, Ron Baken is also Professor Emeritus at Columbia University, and Adjunct Professor of Otolaryngology at New York Medical College. Dr. Baken is internationally recognized for his research in voice physiology, and is the author of more than 50 scientific articles and book chapters. He is the co-author of several books, including the text that is generally acknowledged as the standard reference work on methods of acoustic and physiologic measurement of vocal tract function.

Dame Shirley Bassey DBE, Légion d’honneur

Britain’s most successful ever female pop-music artist, estimated to have sold over 135 million records worldwide in an international career of unrivalled scope and longevity. Her live performances have taken her to most major concert halls throughout the world.

Dame Sarah Connolly DBE

Born in County Durham, Sarah Connolly studied piano and singing at the Royal College of Music, of which she is now a Fellow. She was made a DBE in the 2017 Birthday Honours, having previously been made a CBE in the 2010 New Year’s Honours. In 2011 she was honoured by the Incorporated Society of Musicians and presented with the Distinguished Musician Award. She is the recipient of the Royal Philharmonic Society’s 2012 Singer Award. Photo: Clive Barda.

Sir Derek Jacobi CBE

Screen and stage actor, film director and founding member of the National Theatre, Sir Derek Jacobi has enjoyed a highly successful stage career, playing such notable characters as Edward II, Richard III, Octavius Caesar and Cyrano de Bergerac. He has also won several prestigious awards such as a Tony Award for his performance in “Much Ado About Nothing” and a BAFTA for “I, Claudius”.

Dame Felicity Lott DBE, Légion d’honneur, FRCM

Internationally renowned soprano whose opera career includes major roles at all the world’s greatest opera houses, and whose concert and recording career includes collaborations with many of the world’s finest conductors and pianists. In 2010, she was presented with ‘The Wigmore Hall Medal’ by HRH The Duke of Kent. This medal is awarded to internationally important artistic figures in recognition of their significant contribution to Wigmore Hall. Photo: Trevor Leighton.

Mark Mardell

Mark has worked in broadcasting all his life, starting as a junior reporter at Radio Tees to currently being one of the six presenters of the ‘Movers and Shakers’ podcast about living with Parkinson’s. Most of his distinguished 35-year career has been spent at the BBC where he was Newsnight’s political editor, North American, and Europe editor. As chief political correspondent for the BBC’s main TV and radio programmes, he has covered some of the world’s most important political events. In 2020, Mark won the Association of International Broadcasters award for news reporting, for a series of pieces on race and US politics. He left the BBC the same year and is now semi-retired.

Association awards & prizes

Fellowship of the British Voice Association

The BVA Council awards honorary lifetime membership to worthy recipients and the ceremonial presentation of this fellowship is made at the Association’s Annual General Meeting. Here is the list of recipients of this prestigious award:

John Rubin (2022)

Kristine Carroll-Porczynski (2022)

Sara Harris (2018)

Tom Harris (2015)

Neil Weir (2014)

Janice Chapman (2012)

Prof. Adrian Fourcin (2011)

Ingrid Rugheimer (2010)

The Van Lawrence Prize

Van L Lawrence (1928-1990) was an outstanding American otolaryngologist who was known and admired by all those specialising in voice. He was one of a number of generous professionals who supported the early Voice Research Society conferences, often at his own expense. He also allowed us to market his 1987 video “Suggested Criteria for Fibreoptic Diagnosis of Laryngeal Hyperfunction” to help raise money to support the new Society.

To honour his contribution to the voice world in the UK, the BVA has instituted an award in his name to be offered biennially, provided there are sufficient applicants of a suitable standard.

Van Lawrence Prizewinners

2023: Luke Aldridge-Waddon
“Clinical Psychology and Voice Disorders: A meta-analytic review of studies assessing psychological characteristics across individuals with and without voice-disorders”
Aldridge-Waddon-Clinical Psychology and Voice Disorders 2021: Natalie Watson
“Comparing Aerosol Concentrations and Particle Size Distributions Generated by Singing, Speaking and Breathing at Rest”
Read abstract 2018: Anna White
“Factors influencing pre- and post-operative voice therapy”
Read abstract 2016: Miss Abigail Walker, Dr Rachael Craig, Mr Nicholas Gibbins, Mr Tony Aymat, Dr Rehab Awad and Mrs Sara Harris
“Scaling up: revisiting singers’ pathologies”
Read abstract 2014: Cecilia Pemberston
“Efficiently and cost effectively managing teacher’s voice problems”
Read abstract 2012: Christian T Herbst
“Analyzing the female ‘middle register’ with EGG wavegrams”
Read abstract 2010: Dr Jenevora Williams
“The implications of intensive singing training on the vocal health and development of boy choristers in an English cathedral choir”
Read abstract 2008: Jude Brereton
“The effect of different acoustic environments on singing voice performance”
Read abstract 2004: Sue Anderson
“The interaction of sensory modalities in the learning and memorisation procedures of professional and student singers”
Read submission 2003: Pauline Meek
“Voice Quality Following Thyroid Surgery” 2002: Jane Ginsborg
“Off by heart: expert singers’ memorisation strategies and recall for the words and music of songs”

The Gunnar Rugheimer Award

Gunnar Rugheimer (1923-2003) was the individual behind the idea of a British Association dedicated to the subject of Voice. His original proposal resulted in the foundation of the Voice Research Society, which later amalgamated with “Care of the Professional Voice UK” to become The British Voice Association. Gunnar’s drive, advice, skills, patience and generosity allowed the British Voice Association to flourish, becoming first a charity and then a charitable limited company. Gunnar was a strong and inspiring personality, full of ideas and with the energy to realise them, a consummate negotiator. He brought all of these extraordinary qualities to bear in his work for the BVA. He was also a major driving force behind the first Pan European Voice Conference (PEVoC) becoming its first Secretary-General.

Gunnar had a lifetime’s commitment to communication, working first as a journalist and later in broadcasting where he helped shape the course of broadcasting history in Canada, Britain, Ireland and Scandinavia. To honour his name and his unique contribution to the British Voice Association the Association has established the Gunnar Rugheimer Lecture. The lectures take place bi-annually and are given by invited speakers eminent in the world of voice. We hope they will continue to reflect Gunnar’s spirit, his enthusiasm and passion for voice and communication.

The Gunnar Rugheimer lectures

2019: Jean Abitbol (ENT Surgeon, Paris)
“The Female Voice and the Effects of Hormones” 2017: Mel Churcher (Freelance Director/Actor/Writer. Acting & Voice coach for film and theatre)
“Voice: The Cinderella of the Film Industry” 2015: Professor Graham Welch (Chair of Music Education, UCL Institute of Education)
“The Emergence of Singer Identity in Childhood” 2013: Professor David Howard (Head of Dept of Electronics, University of York)
“The singing voice in performance – the shape of the vocal tract and its acoustics” 2011: Professor Paul Carding (Professor of Speech & Voice Pathology, Freeman Hospital, Newcastle upon Tyne)
“More Questions Than Answers – Current Controversies in the Management of Voice Disorders” 2009: Dr Evelyn Abberton (Phonetician and Speech Language Therapist, London University)
“Don’t Look at Me with That Tone of Voice!” 2007: Professor Bill Hardcastle (Director of the Speech Science, Queen Margaret’s University, Edinburgh)
“Imaging the Tongue and other Articulators in Normal and Disordered Speech”

History

The British Voice Association has its roots in a study group, formed in the nineteen-eighties under the name of the Voice Research Society, for individuals who were interested in learning more about the inter-workings of the voice. It quickly became apparent that there was an enormous need for such an organisation and membership increased rapidly. The Voice Research Society became The British Voice Association in 1991.

The Association’s rooms were initially at Abbey Road and subsequently at the Royal College of Surgeons in Lincoln’s Inn Fields in central London. The British Voice Association’s office address is currently in Nottingham.

Past Presidents

(since the BVA formally became a Limited Company in 1999)

2022-2023: Geraldine McElearney, MA (Singing Teacher)

2021-2022: Louise Gibbs, LTCL, MA, MEd, FHEA (Singer, Singing Teacher, Educator)

2019-2021: Craig Lees, BA (Hons) (Vocal Coach, Choral Director)

2018-2019: John Rubin, MD, FACS, FRCS (Consultant ENT Surgeon)

2017-2018: Nimesh Patel, MB ChB, FRCS, FRCS (ORL-HNS) (Consultant ENT Surgeon)

2016-2017: Ruth Epstein, PhD, MRCSLT (Consultant Speech & Language Therapist)

2015-2016: Dane Chalfin (Vocal Coach/Voice Rehabilitation Coach)

2014-2015: Katharine Lewis, BA, ARCM (Specialist Speech & Language Therapist)

2013-2014: Kate Young, BAppSci MRCSLT (Specialist Speech & Language Therapist)

2012-2013: Kim Chandler, MMus BMus AMusA (Session Singer/Vocal Coach)

2011-2012: Tom Harris, MA MB FRCS (Consultant ENT Surgeon)

2010-2011: John Rubin, MD FACS FRCS (Consultant ENT Surgeon)

2009-2010: Stuart Barr, MPhil MA(Cantab) PGAdvDip(RCM) HonARAM (Musical Director & Singing Coach)

2008-2009: Sara Harris, FRCSLT (Voice-Specialist Speech & Language Therapist)

2007-2008: Linda Hutchison, AGSM (Vocal Consultant, Singing Teacher)

2006-2007: Janice Chapman, OAM AUA FGSMD (Singing Teacher, Pedagogue)

2005-2006: Stephanie Martin, PhD FRCSLT MA BA (Speech & Language Therapist, Lecturer)

2004-2005: Ruth Epstein, PhD MRCSLT (Consultant Speech & Language Therapist)

2003-2004: John Rubin, MD FACS FRCS (Consultant ENT Surgeon)

2002-2003: Lesley Mathieson, FRCSLT (Speech & Language Therapist, Visiting Lecturer in Voice Pathology, Honorary Research Adviser)

2001-2002: Anne-Marie Speed, Hon ARAM MA ADVS CSSD BA PG Dip(DSL) (Professor, Voice & Singing Teacher, Accent & Dialect Coach)

2000-2001: Rosemarie Morgan-Watson, MRCSLT ASC (Voice) Dip. Psych. Couns. (Specialist Speech & Language Therapist)

Our Membership Get Involved BVA Council BVA Patrons Awards & Prizes