54th Symposium Video - THE VOICE FOUNDATION

2025 Symposium Keynote Address: Bharath Chandrasekaren

54th Annual Symposium: Care of the Professional Voice Keynote Address: …

54th Annual Symposium: Care of the Professional Voice
Keynote Address: Bharath Chandrasekaren
The Voice in Our Head: How the Brain Learns and Tunes to Human Voices

The human voice is among the …most ubiquitous, complex, and socially significant sounds we process, carrying critical cues related to identity, emotion, meaning, and intent. Yet, our perception of voice pitch is far from static—it is profoundly shaped by our experiences. In this keynote, I will discuss how the brain categorizes and learns new voices from the lens of systems neuroscience. Drawing from behavioral, computational modeling, and neuroimaging studies, I will discuss how our short-term and long-term experiences reshape neural pathways involved in voice pitch processing and recognition, with implications for understanding musical expertise, communication disorders, and adaptation to novel contexts. This keynote will discuss the brain’s role in voice perception and learning, offering practical insights into how we recognize, adapt to, and navigate the diverse and ever-changing voices we encounter in daily life.

Dr. Bharath Chandrasekaran is the Ralph and Jean Sundin Professor and Chair of the Roxelyn and Richard Pepper Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders at Northwestern University. Prior to Northwestern, he served as a Professor and Vice Chair of Research in the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders. He earned his Ph.D. in Integrative Neuroscience from Purdue University in 2008, completed a postdoctoral fellowship at Northwestern University before joining the University of Texas at Austin in 2010. He is the recipient of Regents’ Outstanding Teaching Award in 2014, the Editor’s award for best research article in the Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, the Psychonomics Early Career award in 2016, and the Society for Neurobiology of Language Early Career Award in 2018, and the Fellowship of the American Speech-Language Hearing Association in 2022. Dr. Chandrasekaran has previously served as the Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research (Speech). Dr. Chandrasekaran’s research examines the neurobiological computations that underlie human communication and learning, using an interdisciplinary, computational, and lifespan approach. His laboratory is currently supported by funding from the National Institutes of Health and National Science Foundation.Show More

2025 Quintana Research Award Lecture: Ronald Callaway Scherer, PhD

54th Annual Symposium: Care of the Professional Voice: Quintana …

54th Annual Symposium: Care of the Professional Voice:
Quintana Research Award: Ronald Callaway Scherer, PhD
A Short History of Larynx Models M1-M6

The Quintana Research Award: recognizing those who design or …utilize technology and apply engineering principles that provide further understanding of the voice.

Ron Scherer, Ph.D., Distinguished Research Professor in the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, Bowling Green State University, received his Ph.D. from the University of Iowa in 1981. He has a master’s degree in speech language pathology from Indiana University. He teaches voice disorders and voice and speech science courses. His research interests include the physiology, mechanics, and acoustics of basic, abnormal, and performance sound production, and physical and computer modeling of phonation. He is a Fellow of the Acoustical Society of America, the American Speech Language Hearing Association, and the International Society of Phonetic Sciences. He was the 2020 recipient of the Johan Sundberg – Ingo R. Titze Award for Creativity in Voice Science from The Voice Foundation.

His talk is the story of six larynx models, M1-M6. The models are all “static” – that is, they imitate specific glottal configurations. Models M1 and M2 were created to test existing theory, were human size, and were sculpted with wax. Models M3 and M4 were created to measure intraglottal pressures, and were made out of balsa wood. Those were 5 times normal size. Models M5 and M6 were created with many intraglottal pressure locations to obtain dense pressure distributions. M5 and M6 were digitally milled and are 7.5 times normal size. Models larger than life-size give human values of pressures and flows by applying dimensional analysis. M5 has 63 canonical glottal configurations and have been used for both symmetric and asymmetric glottal shapes. Pressures, flows, and glottal geometries have been applied to a 3-mass computer model. Examples of phonation will be shown.Show More

2025 G. Paul Moore Lecture: Renée Fleming – Music and Mind

54th Annual Symposium: Care of the Professional Voice G. Paul Moore …

54th Annual Symposium: Care of the Professional Voice
G. Paul Moore Lecture – Renée Fleming, Music and Mind

G. Paul Moore Lecture: Named in honor of Dr. Moore, this lectureship was created …to provide an opportunity for people of stature in the field to share their philosophical and historical perspectives on voice and to provide an overview of their particular areas of interest.

Renée is a leading advocate for the study of the powerful connections between the arts and health. Renée launched the first ongoing collaboration between the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and the National Institutes of Health (NIH), with the participation of the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA). The Sound Health initiative explored and amplified research and practice at the intersection of music, health, and neuroscience. In the wake of the collaboration, the NIH awarded $20 million dollars in funding for music and neuroscience research over five years. With the NeuroArts Blueprint at Johns Hopkins University and the Aspen Instiute, Renée’s Foundation established the Renée Fleming Neuroarts Investigator Awards for early-career scientists paired with creative artists. These awards fund basic and applied research projects in the emerging field of neuroarts, the study of how the arts and aesthetic experiences measurably change the body, brain, and behavior, and how this knowledge can lead to specific practices that advance health and wellbeing. The Renée Fleming Foundation also partnered with the Foundation for the NIH to develop a toolkit for standardizing music & health clinical research for brain disorders of aging. Research!America recognized Renée with the Rosenfeld Award for Impact on Public Opinion, and she received Harvard Medical School’s David Mahoney Neuroscience Prize.

Renée is passionate about the central importance of music and the arts in our society. Most of us have, at times, felt moved or comforted by music, but scientists are now discovering that music can teach us a lot about the brain itself. Music engages many neural regions at once, and evidence suggests that it can shape and even alter our brains.

Inspired by the Sound Health initiative, Renée has created a presentation called Music and the Mind. Designed for a general audience, Music and the Mind explores the power of music as it relates to health and the brain. Topics include childhood development, cognitive neuroscience, evolution, music therapy and the impact on healthcare, the impact of music education, music and social cohesion, and the future of music medicine.Show More

2025 Symposium Friday Special Session: Emotion and Voice, Part 1

This special session focuses on the Voice and Emotion. Moderated by …

2025 Symposium Friday Special Session: Emotion and Voice, Part 2

Part 2 includes Dr. Johann Sundberg’s and Dr. Tua Hakanpää’s presentations.

2025 Symposium Masterclass: Renée Fleming

Masterclass with Renée Fleming The Voice Foundation 54th Annual …

Masterclass with Renée Fleming

The Voice Foundation
54th Annual Symposium: Care of the Professional Voice

Singers:
Joshua Klein, baritone
Evgeniya Khomutova, mezzo-soprano
Sara LeMesh, soprano

Renée Fleming is one of the most highly acclaimed singers of our …time, performing on the stages of the world’s great opera houses and concert halls. A 2023 Kennedy Center Honoree, and winner of five Grammy® awards and the US National Medal of Arts, she has sung for momentous occasions from the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony to the Super Bowl. In 2023, the World Health Organization appointed her as Goodwill Ambassador for Arts and Health, and this year at Davos, she became an inaugural member of the World Economic Forum’s Global Arts and Culture Council.

Renée received the Grammy Award for Best Classical Vocal Solo for her album Voice of Nature: The Anthropocene. She is currently touring with a concert program inspired by the album, with a special film created for the performance by the National Geographic Society. Last May at the Metropolitan Opera, Renée starred in The Hours, an opera based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel and award-winning film. Her voice is featured on the soundtracks of Best Picture Oscar winners The Shape of Water and The Lord of the Rings.

Renée’s anthology, Music and Mind: Harnessing the Arts for Health and Wellness, was published in 2024. A prominent advocate for research at the intersection of arts, health, and neuroscience, Renée launched the first ongoing collaboration between the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and America’s largest health research institute, the National Institutes of Health. She has created her own program called Music and the Mind, which she has presented in more than 60 cities around the world. She is now a founding advisor for major initiatives in the field, including the Sound Health Network at UC San Francisco and the NeuroArts Blueprint with Johns Hopkins University and The Aspen Institute.

Advisor for Special Projects at LA Opera, Renée is also Co-Artistic Director of the Aspen Opera Center and VocalArts at the Aspen Music Festival and School, and Artist Development Advisor at Wolf Trap Opera. Her other awards include Germany’s Cross of the Order of Merit, the Polar Music Prize, the Fulbright Lifetime Achievement Medal, and honorary doctorates from ten leading universities.
http://www.reneefleming.comShow More

2025 Symposium Tutorials 2

This video includes tutorials in Voice Acoustics, Perception of Voice, …

2025 Symposium Tutorials 1

Part 1 of this year’s tutorials include Anatomy and Physiology, …

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2025 54th Annual Symposium Videos

2025 Symposium Keynote Address: Bharath Chandrasekaren

JOURNAL OF VOICE

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2025 54th Annual Symposium Videos

2025 Symposium Keynote Address: Bharath Chandrasekaren

JOURNAL OF VOICE

About JOVJournal HomeJOV Annual Best Papers

DOWNLOADS

2022 Symp Program2019 AbstractsPrograms and Abstracts

PARTNERSHIPS

Exhibitor ProspectusMarketingLeading Roles

About JOV
Journal Home
JOV Annual Best Papers

2022 Symp Program
2019 Abstracts
Programs and Abstracts

Exhibitor Prospectus
Marketing
Leading Roles