Breakout Session
Sharpening the Saw: High- and Low-Tech Wellness Strategies for Singers
Sunday, July 10 • 4:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Presenter: Kristine Hurst-Wajszczuk
Introduced by: Melanie Williams
Location: Marriott Ballroom - 4th Floor
Physical, mental and emotional resilience are crucial if we are to explore the human psyche onstage. In this presentation, we explore the many facets of wellness required for performance at the highest level. There are many high-tech options that can help singers achieve their goals, and these are explored along with traditional (and not so traditional) low-tech strategies. For each area of wellness, there are a multitude of materials available online and elsewhere. A comprehensive list of web sites, blogs, apps, and print materials will be provided so that attendees might pursue their own wellness in their own manner.
About Kristine Hurst-Wajszczuk
Soprano Kristine Hurst-Wajszczuk is associate professor of voice and opera at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. While serving as stage and musical director, her opera productions have won three awards in the NOA Opera Production Competition. Currently pursuing certification in hypnosis, her dissertation on managing performance anxiety has expanded into overall wellness for singers. Other research includes the socio-political intrigue surrounding the lute songs of John Dowland, and using Kolb Learning Styles Inventory in the classroom and studio. An active performer, she was recently featured as Dido in Bourbon Baroque’s Dido and Aeneas. Recent recitals have taken her to Kentucky, Ohio, and the Carolinas, with upcoming performances in Georgia and Florida. Her solo CD of Dowland lute songs was released in 2008 by Centaur. Dr. Hurst-Wajszczuk has presented workshops and lectures nationally and internationally for the Konservatorium Wien Privatuniversität, NATS, ICVT, NOA, College Music Society, and the Athena Festival.
