Matthew Hoch, DMA, has had the winning proposal for the 2016 Van L. Lawrence Fellowship. An associate professor of voice and coordinator of the voice area in the Department of Music at Auburn University, Hoch will pursue a human subject study that adapts recent voice fatigue indices by Nanjundeswaran et al. (2015) and Paolillo/Pantaleo (2014) to specific singing tasks.

“I would like to continue studying the application of exercise science principles to voice pedagogy. I am particularly interested in the injury prevention aspects of muscle training as they apply to both vocal warmup and literature selection,” says Hoch.

Dr. Matthew Schloneger’s proposal to explore the application of voice dosimetry in the development of tessiturograms, quantifying the tessitura of vocal repertoire to better assist teachers in assigning appropriate vocal repertoire for students scored highly to come in second.

The Van L. Lawrence Fellowship was created to honor Van L. Lawrence, M.D. for his outstanding contribution to voice, and particularly to recognize the importance of the interdisciplinary education he fostered among laryngologists and singing teachers. It is awarded jointly by The Voice Foundation and The National Association of Teachers of Singing Foundation.

The Fellowship is intended to provide opportunities for the Fellow to become more thoroughly acquainted with practices, techniques, technology and people involved in laryngology and voice science. It is hoped that the opportunities and contacts provided through the Fellowship experience will enhance the teacher’s ability to do meaningful interdisciplinary research, and will encourage the teacher to apply appropriate voice science advances in the studio.

Candidates for the Van L. Lawrence Fellowship must be members of The National Association of Teachers of Singing who are actively engaged in teaching. The Fellowship is awarded to candidates who have demonstrated excellence in their professions as singing teachers, and who have shown interest in and knowledge of voice science.

Past recipients of the Van L. Lawrence Fellowship have included:

• 2015 - Filipa Martins Baptista Lã
• 2014 - Katherine Osborne
• 2013 - Bonnie Draina
• 2012 - Kari Ragan
• 2011 - Brian Gill
• 2010 - David Meyer
• 2009 - Donald Bell
• 2008 - Margaret Baroody
• 2007 - Kathryn Barnes-Burroughs
• 2006 - John Nix
• 2005 - Lynn Helding
• 2003 - Katherine Eberle, Norman Spivey
• 2002 - Jan Prokop
• 2001 - Meribeth Bunch
• 2000 - Brenda Smith
• 1999 - Stephen Austin, Jeannette Lo Vetri
• 1998 - Kathleen Wilson, Marvin Keenze
• 1997 - Freda Herseth
• 1996 - Ruth Golden
• 1995 - Sue W. Snyder, Thomas Houser
• 1994 - Kenneth Bozeman, Janette Ogg
• 1993 - Karen Peeler, Lynelle F. Wiens
• 1992 - Raquel Cortina
• 1991 - Lois Yadeau

 Click here for more information on the Van L. Lawrence Fellowship.