World Voice Day is April 16^th.

It was established in Brazil in 1999 as the Brazilian National Voice Day by a group of physicians, speech-language pathologists and singing teachers. Today it is celebrated worldwide as World Voice Day.

This year’s theme is One World/Many Voices. I imagine this choice is in response to events confronting us all over the world. The idea that all voices add to the richness of our whole world is one worth repeating, celebrating and fighting for.

When I first began to teach, I focused on training the mechanics of the voice and the interpretation of the music. As a seasoned singer and instructor, I have expanded my instruction into a more metaphoric realm, expounding upon the importance of the expressing and sharing of ideas, thoughts and ideals. Our voices can demand we be counted, be heard.

The diversity of voices provides businesses, communities, even our own family and circle of friends, a deeper understanding of each other, of needs we are unaware, of opinions we might dismiss.

Singing brings me enormous joy. It is an essential part of my life. But my voice has also become a channel through which I can stand up to injustice and hate, to question people’s actions and to support others. And so I not only teach people how to use their voices well but how to strengthen and care for them. Because without a strong and healthy voice, who we are will be smothered by loud noise. Our voices give us a way to not be silent.

(http://www.entnet.org/voiceday)

Resilience: 1) the capacity to recover quickly from difficulties; 2) the ability to spring back, elasticity.*

This past summer, I inundated myself with free webinars, trying to be productive, fulfilling a sense of purpose. In one such webinar, I watched a video by a gentleman who practices building his resilience every

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