SSCI grant to examine singing at altitude
Nicholas Perna, associate professor of voice + director of vocal pedagogyalong with students Whitney Robinson (DMA 28) and Alice Del Simone (DMA 26)demonstrates how the RespTrak system measures abdominal and rib cage movement.泭
The CU Boulder College of Music is pleased to share that Associate Professor of Voice + Director of Vocal Pedagogy Nicholas Pernaand a team of collaborators including Jen Walentas Lewon (CU Boulder Speech, Language and Hearing Sciences), and Mona Abaza and Blair Whiteside (CU Anschutz Department of Otolaryngology)were awarded a $10K grant from the CU Boulder Division of Social Sciences (SSCI).泭
SSCI grants support initiatives focused on equity, interdisciplinarity, student success and staff/faculty support. This newly funded collaboration is a multiyear initiative that will examine why it's difficult to adapt to singing here in Colorado, and provide best practices for singers who tour through or move to our state to keep their voices healthy and adapt to singing at altitude with efficiency, says Perna, who directs the colleges vocal pedagogy program.泭
To start, a new RespTrak systempurchased with support from Pernas泭CU Boulder Arts & Sciences grant last year and housed in the泭Berton Coffin Voice Labwill measure abdominal and rib cage movement as singers adapt respiratory strategies upon arriving at altitude over several months. The SSCI grant funds a stroboscope system housed in the CU Boulder Department of Speech, Language and Hearing Sciences (SHLS). This is the first stroboscopic system on the CU Boulder campus, notes Perna. This system will allow us to take high-definition pictures and videos of the vocal folds of a singer to determine function, normality and health of vocal fold anatomy.
The screenings will provide SLHS graduate students with supervised experience performing stroboscopic exams on singers. Participating College of Music singers will benefit from the opportunity to have a baseline stroboscopic screening upon their arrival at CU Boulder and near the conclusion of their first year.泭
Congratulations to all awardees!