From the President’s desk

September 2011

Dear AVA Members

Greetings  and all good wishes from me and the Board of Australian Voice Association, Spring  2011!

I hope this message finds you well,  happy and enjoying this season of awakening and invigoration!

ASPAH-AVA Conference

As  I write this President’s message, excitement is mounting with the continuing approach  of the ASPAH – AVA Conference to be held in October 2011.

This is a very exciting collaboration – for  the AVA to be holding a conference in conjunction with the Australian Society  for Performing Arts Healthcare (ASPAH) – and I urge you all to be there!!

The  conference in Sydney, 21st-23rd October 2011, at the University of Sydney promises  to be exciting and stimulating.

Speaking out on performers’ health: Perspectives  for a new decade includes many aspects of voice, performance and  performers’ health.

The  AVA is delighted to be part of this exciting and very relevant collaboration  between like-minded professionals, performers, students and others.

Visit the ASPAH website now – www.aspah.org.au to register and to gain  snippets of the wonderful programme that’s planned.

Both Vice President, Adele Nisbet, and I have  been representing the AVA on the organizing committee, very ably led by Dr  Jonathan Livesay, Ear Nose and Throat Specialist, with other organizing  committee members including

• Bronwen Ackermann
• Alison Evans
• Cliffton Chan
• Samantha Warhurst from ASPAH (who was the AVA NSW Student Encouragement Award recipient  for 2011)

Some  highlights of the ASPAH – AVA Conference will include -

• Registration  from 5:00pm Friday 21st October, with drinks, Band of Giants to play  at the Friday reception, (the trio line up will consist of three of Sydney’s  finest jazz musicians),
• opening presentation and guest lecture from Associate  Professor Ralph Manchester MD,
  and a Saturday and Sunday proposed timetable to  include
• academic paper presentations,
• a keynote speech from ASPAH Patron,  conductor Richard Gill,
• guest lectures on Accent Breathing and Articulation  from Ron Morris, Speech Pathologist and Counter Tenor, (along with workshops from  Ron and others).

The AVA is also  supporting the Guest Master Class by Marvin Keenze  – The Benefits of the Age of Information – How  We Teach and How We Listen to Singers in 2011 – at the time of the  ASPAH AGM  5 -6.30 pm Saturday.

The conference  program will also include Annual General Meetings for ASPAH and AVA, the Conference  dinner and a singalong finale!!!

A  conference not to be missed!  Do  get on line and register at www.aspah.org.au to take advantage of being in Sydney for this exciting AVA Event.  Several ASPAH members are also members of  AVA, we share a common culture and interests and are looking forward to an  exciting collaboration in October.

I hope to see many of  you there!

AVA Annual General Meeting

AGM: The AVA plans to hold its Annual  General Meeting at the ASPAH- AVA Conference in Sydney Saturday 22nd  October 2011, between 1.10pm and 2pm (at lunchtime).  We look forward to having as many members as  possible attend the AGM in person at the University of Sydney venue.
Board Portfolios

The AVA Board continues to be  active on your behalf, meeting regularly throughout the year by teleconference.  At the 15th August teleconference meeting it was decided that portfolios  would be allocated to members of the Board to stimulate and create greater  efficiency within the AVA.

To  this end the Board has now allocated the portfolio roles  below, the incumbents of which will continue until the AGM 22nd  October 2011, while the roles will continue beyond that date.

We look forward to the stimulus and increased  momentum that we believe this will provide.

Already Sheryl Mailing is active in the PD role, creating a survey  monkey to look at member interest in Professional Development and with the able  assistance of Sharon Moore is looking at events for 2012.

Members can look forward to the AVA providing future PD Events to meet  your needs!

Website Management

Website – John Waller continues  to manage the technical operation and we thank him for this. Johanna Flavell is  now our AVA Website Co-coordinator, after a most helpful period with Moya  Pattie in this role, so please email her photos, information about events  including workshops and conferences and other newsworthy items relevant to  voice.

The AVA Board remains committed to further development of the website and  continues to aim to make it up to date, informative, interactive and responsive  to your needs.

We haven’t yet been  inundated with responses to our intention to provide an area for VIPs (Voice  Interested People) and member resources so do please contact Johanna with  ideas on how the website and your association can be improved!

Your involvement with the AVA & the  website is paramount to our efficacy and survival!

We need  member input and enthusiasm for a viable Australian Voice Association!

Membership News

AVA Membership at the time of  writing is continuing to grow in and includes international as well as local  members.

We are encouraged with our efforts to enhance and promote the services  and benefits of AVA membership and that they are bearing results.

We continue  to be aware that a strong and vibrant membership brings benefits to us all.

Student Encouragement Awards

We also continue to be particularly keen to  involve students with the AVA. To  this end it has been rewarding to have brought to fruition the Inaugural AVA  Student Encouragement Awards.

The  Australian Voice Association’s Student Encouragement Award is now well  established. The AVA has set up this annual award scheme to encourage students,  student membership and future involvement in the Association.

The award is comprised  of

• AVA membership for the remainder of the year,
• complimentary entrance to  workshops and conferences conducted by the AVA
• a substantial book  prize.

Remember  to make use of and foster our connection with British Voice Association!

Voiceprint

Voiceprint: Continues to be a  vibrant and highly informative link, providing us with a most valuable print connection  within the AVA amongst our voice interested professionals.

We are delighted to have this 41st Edition produced  by Guest Editor Jenny Caire to add  weight to our 20 year operational milestone.

We apologise for the delay in  Voiceprint this year.

Unfortunately  Alison Winkworth was not able to commit time to the production of Voiceprint 41  as anticipated and we had to reorganize our Guest Editor and re-schedule its  production.

Our thanks to Alison for  consideration of the task and we are all understanding that voluntary tasks  sometimes have to be put on the back-burner in our increasingly busy world.

I  urge you to continue to support Voiceprint by contributing information and  items of interest (adding your voice!) to our voice community.

Continue  to communicate with your Association, the AVA, to ensure it meets your needs.

Jane Mott           President           Australian  Voice Association         September  2011