I am a human voice specialist. I work as a researcher, teacher and artist in acoustic interaction. In other words, I coach speech and singing, help people express themselves more skillfully, and produce a variety of voice-related events and trainings. I’m a bit of a voice freak, I like to think about the use of sound in different situations: what social and personal meanings voice and sound use have, how these issues can be made visible, and can sound or soundscape be modified on a motivational basis. My special expertise is specifically related to this introduction of inquiry-based thinking into the teaching of skills. In Finland I am one of the few experts who is able to investigate the use of voice coaching by means of experimental research and to transfer research results into practice sovereignly. In this position I benefit from my position in between science and art, even though it’s usually a bit of an ungrateful position when people don’t really know if I am an egg or a chicken or what it is that I do. I’ve developed a research-based model of the acoustic expression of emotion in the human voice, and my work has drawn a lot of international attention in a form of published articles and attending conferences. The value of what I produce is strongly related to my expertise, but because I’ve worked as a freelance in the culture-field for as long as I have, I’ve also developed agility and I’m able to adapt to a wide range of tasks. In my work, I help people take control of their own voice, that is, I help developing healthy voice habits, sustain the voice, modify the quality of the voice and the resulting perceptions from it, I help develop expression, help develop listening skills, but I also do a lot of educational planning and help other voice teachers promote their skills.
Teaching
I teach:
– communication through avant-garde musical improvisation,
– the anatomy and physiology of voice
– vocal emotional expression.
I am available for workshops at your location.