A wide range of University of Iowa scholars took part in the Voice Foundation’s 55th annual Care of the Professional Voice symposium, May 27-31, 2026, in Philadelphia, PA. This is the premiere conference for the art, science, and clinical care of the singing voice--and the University of Iowa's prominent participation in the event demonstrates how Iowa is reemerging as a leader in the art and science of voice.
Faculty and students from the UI School of Music; Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders; School of Art, Art History and Design; College of Engineering, and Carver College of Medicine contributed a total of 15 papers and panels, including:
- School of Music: Seven papers and one invited panel (including collaborations with Biomedical Engineering in the College of Engineering and 3D research with Monica Correia in the School of Art, Art History, and Design
- Communication Sciences and Disorders: Five podium presentations and one invited panel
- Carver College of Medicine: One paper and participation in two Music / Radiology collaborations.
Noteworthy contributions included:
Music Education Professor Mary Cohen’s panel presentation on “Vocal Arts in Prisons: The Whys and How’s," during which Professor Cohen led several hundred attendees in singing together.
Assistant Professor of Voice and Voice Science David Meyer received the Journal of Voice's "Best Paper in Voice Pedagogy” award, selected by majority vote of the journal's editorial board, for the paper, “Acoustical Theory of Vowel Modification Strategies in Belting," examining "belt” singing, common in musical theatre performers, and challenging the notion that it uses “speech-like” vowels. Dr. Meyer was senior author, with coauthors Christian T. Herbst (Mozarteum, Salzburg) and Brad Story (University of Arizona) contributing on the award-winning paper, and he co-authored seven additional scientific papers that were delivered as podium-presentations at the symposium. Meyer also performed as a soloist in the symposium's “Voices of Summer” gala.