Regional Meetings

Prior to a “national” gathering of voice teachers and coaches in Stratford, Ontario on August 4-5, 2018 a series of “regional” meetings were held across the country:

A Steering Committee of Jane Gooderham, Jane MacFarlane, Betty Moulton and Janine Pearson created and forwarded an agenda to each facilitator as a means of coalescing the national discussion.

What follows are the talking points that were provided:

Discuss the history of voice teaching and coaching in your region, province, and/or territory.

Discuss and define the current strengths and challenges of the profession -

What is the work we do?
What are the seeming categories of the work? Voice, dialect, text, singing, movement?
What are the opportunities and challenges particular to your region - and is pay scale related?
What are the opportunities and challenges for smaller and diverse theatre companies in your community?
Mentorship and learning – how do we inspire, be inspired and grow mentorship of the work?

Looking at representation, discuss initial step(s) to create a Canadian Voice Association that could advocate for members, help to set industry standards, provide fair representation and create a regional register of qualified working professionals.

What would the structure look like? Discuss structure and positive ideas that we could take from voice associations that currently exist – for example Voice and Speech Trainers Association (VASTA) and the British Voice Association (BVA).
Membership – on what basis would membership be granted? Who can join? For example NATS (National Association of Teachers of Singing). Do we need definitions or categories for voice, dialect etc.?
Would a register of Canadian voice professionals be kept? How? Where? (For example VASTA)
Website? Who would maintain and update?
Membership Fee?

More broadly, how would any possible ‘association’ of Canadian voice professionals address the following ideas:

Mentorship – would this assist in the passing on of the work given:
- the lack of voice teacher training programs.
- that permanent positions are not being replaced at U of A, York, U of C, Bishops etc. in actor training programs.
- would mentorship be an avenue to possible continued education?
Diversity and First Nations coaches – inclusion of a wide range of voices and approaches in our work – and openness to the exchange of ideas and stories in an ever-changing Canadian population with deep resonant roots.
Could this be a place for professionals to be advised on general information regarding work place issues such as: remuneration, insurance, program acknowledgement etc.?
Additional concerns or ideas arising out of the discussion