Associate Professor of Voice, Shenandoah Conservatory Artistic Director of the CCM Vocal Pedagogy Institute
Natalie Dessay
NBC news interviewed world renowned laryngologist Dr. Steven Zeitels (Harvard Medical Center) for a story about the life span of a singer’s voice. The article says “Zeitels estimates he’s performed about 75,000 voice operations, 500-700 of those on singers….Most of the singers he has performed on have been opera singers, because of the substantial demands on their voice.” In the article he lists the names of some of his famous pop singer clientele, but does not list a single opera singer’s name. Why? Because there is such a stigma around vocal injury in the classical voice community that most singers are not willing to admit they have sought help.
I recently had a conversation with a world renowned singing voice specialist who has found it frustrating that none of their professional opera singers are willing to provide a written testimonial for public use. The singers’ refusal is not because they were unsatisfied with the therapy, it is because they believe they cannot publicly admit that they ran into problems. If you dig around online you can find stories of opera singers who have run into problems, but they are not easy to find. Soprano Natalie Dessay had an operation to remove nodules from her vocal folds. Denise Graves hemorrhaged during a performance when she sneezed backstage, which is similar to what recently happened to Megan Trainor. Rolando Villazón was diagnosed with a vocal cyst in 2009 that required surgery. Cysts can occur on their own, but they can also be a result of extreme vocal use. These are all well known performers who sing very well and still ran into vocal problems.
Perhaps more illuminating are the results of studies with anonymous participants. A scientist in Krasnoyarsk, Russia conducted a study to analyze the results of voice therapy on twenty-eight classical singers with nodules. Classical singers in a study conducted at the University of Pittsburgh displayed the lowest Voice Handicap Scores of all the participants, suggesting that they felt significantly handicapped in the their voice use, more so than any other categories of voice users. Researchers in Melbourne, Australia found that 23% of classical singers had to cancel a performance within the last year due to a vocal issue and 51% of the classical singers said that they had struggled at some point in their career with one of seven diagnosed vocal conditions listed in their survey. If you search through the archives of the Journal of Voice and other peer-reviewed journals, you can find many other articles that deal with voice issues in classical singers.
What about voice teachers? One may assume that those who have made a career protecting the voices of their students would be free of problems themselves. Unfortunately, that is not the case. Yolanda D. Heman-Ackah, Carole M. Dean, and Robert T. Sataloff conducted strobovideolaryngoscopic examinations of voice teachers at a national convention. They examined twenty teachers, including seven who had vocal complaints, and all of whom identified themselves as singers of classical music. Of those teachers, eleven had vocal cysts, eight had vocal fold hypomobility, one had a polyp, two had Reinke’s Edema, and three had sulcus vocalis. Every single subject had signs of acid reflux.
So what does all of this mean? It means that ALL singers of ALL styles are prone to vocal injury and so are their teachers. It means that we are all human and we are not invincible. We need to stop saying “a lack of classical technique” is why pop singers run into problems and we need to stop spreading the myth that classical singers never get injured. Instead we need to start focusing on spreading knowledge about how to avoid vocal damage and how to recover from injuries when they happen. We also need to start encouraging classical singers to share their struggles and not be afraid to say they got hurt. We have too much to gain from each other and too much to lose by staying silent.
~Matt
Brilliant article!
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Thank you for this. Last year, I experienced unilateral vocal fold paralysis as a result of a virus my husband brought home from an overseas trip. I had only returned to singing after a 20 year hiatus in 2012. I was devastated and my husband was distraught with (unnecessary) guilt. Initially I was warned by my coach and my voice teacher not to share anything about my illness. Because I sounded so bad, I even had to avoid my friends and colleagues socially for fear that my “dirty little secret” would be discovered. It was very isolating and depressing to be cut off from my musical friends and family.
Ultimately, I decided that I needed to share my journey with others, through social media, email and in person encounters. I was extraordinarily lucky that my teacher has experience in voice therapy and that I work for the professional association for speech pathologists. I could not have been better supported or gotten better care. I took 4 therapy sessions a week, many most out of pocket. My recovery was rapid: mid-July to early December before all restrictions were lifted.
Not only did people treat me as “tainted” or damaged goods, many avoided me completely. I could not tell whether they feared “catching my paralysis” or if it was too painful a reminder of their own risk of illness or injury.
Since getting a clean bill of health from the ENT, I have sung several concerts and auditions. There is a lingering issue undetectable by anyone but me. But based on the response I will never even mention it for fear of becoming a pariah again.
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Thank you for sharing! I’m glad to hear you are back to a clean bill of health and singing again. ~Matt
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Hear, hear! This point of view needs to be broadcast to as many as possible. Vocal health and vocal injury are universal concerns.
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Its weird to think, mind, that there are singers like Roger Daltery and Bruce dickinson, who mostly sing at the top of the range, even now in there advance years, sing in concert’s which more often than not last about 3 hours at times. What are these guys doing to stop getting there health issues listed?
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Reblogged this on kaarasings and commented:
Enlightening! Now, I’m definitely going to do a base line scope.
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Reblogged this on your summons echoes true and commented:
Good food for thought for *anyone* considering studying voice (even professional voice users who aren’t singers). Whatever tools we have at our disposal to practice our craft should be carefully cared for. It doesn’t matter who you are, a solid technical knowledge and workout for your voice will only help you in the long run. It doesn’t mean that you will turn into an opera singer; a good vocal technician will help you uncover your instrument, learn to understand it, and in the process, figure out how your voice best operates in a given genre of music or as a speaker.
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You don’t mention anything about recovery. I’m concerned about a young soprano who has suffered from acid reflux for several years. Now, after her career is beginning to take off, her condition is going to require surgery. Can she expect a full recovery? If so, what is the normal time frame for recovery at which time she will safely be able to resume her singing? Thank you.
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I am simply amazed that you have talked to me…what a pity…when you do another article where you want to know the real truth about vocal problems, nodules, Sataloff and friends…contact me …but before read my books…on the market for 20 years…a world that has tried to block my work because it takes people like Z and brings them down in no time…but it simply does not pay the gigantic fees that they charge for operations and ‘rehabilitation’…bring me anything, the worst of the worst..I have challenged the world of classic and pop for years….big problem is…very little time for PR and less time for BS….at your disposal…anytime!
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MISTAKE HERE….WHY YOU HAVE NOT TALKED TO ME!!!!!
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