Gender perception studies typically use subjects’ speaking voice to identify gender perception traits (Hardy et. al., 2020) (Gelfer et. al., 2013). The results of these studies indicated that speaking fundamental frequency is likely a factor influencing perceived gender. However, in singing, the fundamental frequency is determined by the pitch of the composition. Previous research on gender perception of the singing voice has been limited to a gender binary, male and female (Scherer, 2024). This research investigates the gender perception of musical theatre singing by professional voice teacher listeners. In the study, musical theatre singers sang an excerpt of “Seasons of Love” from Rent by Jonathan Larson in three keys, C Major, Eb Major, and G Major, with pitch ranges from G3-G4, Bb3-Bb4, and D4-D5, respectively. Each singer rated their own gender on a linear scale from male to female and the self-perceived gender quality of their voice from masculine to feminine in each key. Professional voice teacher listeners rated the sung samples on a scale of masculine to feminine. Data analysis examines the relationship between the singers’ and expert listeners’ gender perceptions for each sample. Additionally, acoustic analysis was performed in PRAAT to determine other potential relationships between gender perception and acoustic features such as breathiness, auditory roughness, harmonic-to-noise ratio, and asthenic strain. The study is ongoing and results may support ongoing efforts to elucidate the complex relationship between gender perception and the singing voice.

Keywords
Gender
Perception
Musical theatre
Voice teacher
Gender attribute
Singing voice
Fundamental frequency
Spectral tilt
Auditory roughness
Harmonic to Noise ratio