The Voice Foundation and NATS Foundation present the Van L. Lawrence Fellowship
The Van Lawrence Fellowship Award is given jointly by the National Association of Teachers of Singing Foundation
(NATS Foundation) and The Voice Foundation. Application submission deadline November 15th, 2026.
The fellowship was created by The Voice Foundation and the NATS Foundation to honor Van L. Lawrence, M.D., for his outstanding contribution to voice, and particularly to recognize the importance of the interdisciplinary education he fostered among laryngologists and singing teachers.
2026 Fellowship Awardee,
Tiago Lima Bicalho Cruz, PhD
The National Association of Teachers of Singing and The Voice Foundation are delighted to announce Tiago Lima Bicalho Cruz, PhD, as the 2026 Van L. Lawrence Fellowship Award recipient. This prestigious honor includes a $2,000 award to support Cruz’s research and the opportunity to attend the 55th Annual Symposium: Care of the Professional Voice, May 27-May 31, 2026, in Philadelphia
Tiago Lima Bicalho Cruz, PhD, is a singer, speech-language pathologist, and voice scientist based in Brazil, and an international member of NATS (Ibero-American Chapter). His work connects studio practice with voice science, with a focus on building accessible acoustic tools that help singing teachers and clinicians make more objective, evidence-based decisions.
Throughout his career, He’s been interested in how vocal efficiency and expressive control coexist in trained singing. Working simultaneously as a performer, teacher, and clinician, he’s often seen how early signs of vocal overload in singers can be difficult to identify before they become clinically evident.
This Van L. Lawrence Fellowship project aims to validate an acoustic screening model for vocal hyperfunction in singers by integrating two domains that are rarely analyzed together: phonatory efficiency in speech and vibrato regularity in singing. This work centers on the Acoustic Voice Hyperfunction Index, an index Tiago developed that is currently in the process of refinement and validation, combined with cycle-by-cycle vibrato variability measures. Together, these components seek to identify subtle patterns of inefficiency and instability that may be associated with fatigue, strain, or reduced fine motor control.
He’s especially interested in how speech-based efficiency metrics and singing-based vibrato regularity can be interpreted together as complementary indicators of vocal function. A key goal is to support screening and monitoring that helps voice professionals differentiate whether signs consistent with hyperfunction emerge primarily in speech, primarily in singing, or across both domains. Beyond vibrato rate and extent, cycle-by-cycle variability and entropy add information about vibrato regularity that can strengthen longitudinal tracking in a practical, non-invasive way for both studio and clinical settings.
On a personal level, this fellowship represents a meaningful convergence of his artistic background and scientific training. It will allow him to strengthen international collaborations, deepen ongoing connections with U.S. institutions and research groups, refine tools that are already being applied in pedagogical contexts, and translate complex acoustic data into practical insights that support healthier, more efficient singing. Tiago is deeply grateful for the opportunity provided by the Van L. Lawrence Fellowship and would like to thank the National Association of Teachers of Singing, The Voice Foundation, and the Van L. Lawrence Fellowship Committee for their support and recognition.
Eligibility Requirements
Candidates for the Van L. Lawrence Fellowship must be members of National Association of Teachers of Singing and actively engaged in teaching. The Fellowship will be awarded to candidates who have demonstrated excellence in their professions as singing teachers, and who have shown interest in, and knowledge of, voice science. The Fellowship is intended to provide opportunities for the Fellow to become more thoroughly acquainted with practices, techniques, technology, and people involved in laryngology and voice science. It is hoped that the opportunities and contacts provided through the Fellowship experience will enhance the teacher’s ability to do meaningful interdisciplinary research, and will encourage the teacher to apply appropriate voice science advances in the studio.
Award Amount
The amount of the Van L. Lawrence Fellowship award is determined annually by The Voice Foundation and National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS Foundation) . In recent years it has been $2,000. The funds are to be used to defray expenses for the Fellowship winner to attend the annual Symposium on Care of the Professional Voice (tuition shall be waived). Following the Symposium, the Fellow will be provided with the opportunity to visit laryngologists, speech pathologists, voice scientists, and research centers associated with The Voice Foundation during the fellowship year. Specific locations and durations of stay will be arranged in accordance with the Fellow’s interests and needs and the availability of the centers to be visited.
Following completion of the Fellowship experience, it is anticipated that the Fellow will have opportunities to consult with the scientists he or she has visited, and to apply his or her newly acquired knowledge in designing and executing a research project to help advance the field of voice teaching. The Voice Foundation will help provide review of the resulting paper and counseling regarding its improvement. When appropriate, the paper will be considered for expedited publication in the Journal of Voice or Journal of Singing.
Selection Process
The Van L. Lawrence Fellowship shall be awarded by the Board of Directors of The Voice Foundation and National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS Foundation) . The Fellowship Committee shall be appointed by the Chairman of the Board of The Voice Foundation and the President of National Association of Teachers of Singing Foundation and shall include at least one representative from the Board of Directors of The Voice Foundation and one representative from National Association of Teachers of Singing. Additional members shall be appointed at the discretion of the Chairman of the Board of Directors of The Voice Foundation and the President of National Association of Teachers of Singing Foundation.
Application
Members of NATS wishing to apply for the fellowship should write a letter of intent to The Voice Foundation along with your CV – combined into one PDF. Include the area and methods of your proposed study plan.
The Voice Foundation
219 N. Broad St. – Philadelphia, PA 19107
Telephone: (215)735-7999 Fax (215) 762-5572
E-mail: office@voicefoundation.org
The letter should include the following topics (as well as others which the applicant believes will strengthen his/her application, but please be as succinct as possible): All in one PDF:
(a) Current application of scientific knowledge in the studio
(b) The area of intended study and/or research project and the study plan and methods.
(c) How the Fellowship and research project will benefit your teaching
(d) NATS Chapter to which you belong
(e) A detailed curriculum vita.
The fellowship will be awarded at the next Symposium: Care of the Professional Voice, scheduled for May 27 – May 31, 2026 in Philadelphia, PA. The award presentation will take place on Friday, May 29, 2026.
The application deadline for the following year is November 15th, 2025.
If you have any questions about the application process, please contact The Voice Foundation. E-mail: office@voicefoundation.org
Past Fellowship Recipients
- 2024 – Ana Flavia Zuim
- 2023 – Christian Herbst
- 2022 – Ian Howell
- 2021 – Edrie Means Weekly
- 2020 – Angelika Nair
- 2019 – Amanda Flynn
- 2018 – Amelia Rollings (Richard Lissemore, Honorable Mention)
- 2017 – Matthew Schloneger, Matthew Edwards
- 2016 – Matthew Hoch
- 2015 – Filipa Martins Baptista Lã
- 2014 – Katherine Osborne
- 2013 – Bonnie Draina
- 2012 – Kari Ragan
- 2011 – Brian Gill
- 2010 – David Meyer
- 2009 – Donald Bell
- 2008 – Margaret Baroody
- 2007 – Kathryn Barnes-Burroughs
- 2006 – John Nix
- 2005 – Lynn Helding
- 2003 – Katherine Eberle, Norman Spivey
- 2002 – Jan Prokop
- 2001 – Meribeth Bunch
- 2000- Brenda Smith
- 1999 – Stephen Austin, Jeannette Lo Vetri
- 1998 – Kathleen Wilson, Marvin Keenze
- 1997 – Freda Herseth
- 1996 – Ruth Golden
- 1995 – Sue W. Snyder, Thomas Houser
- 1994 – Kenneth Bozeman, Janette Ogg
- 1993 – Karen Peeler, Lynelle F. Wiens
- 1992 – Raquel Cortina
- 1991 – Lois Yadeau