Abstract of PhD

This study is about coherence in communication. Its primary contribution, and where it deviates from much other work in this area, is that its focus is voice, and our ability to effectively use this complex instrument in an organisational context. The research reflects my rather unusual background of both opera performance and leadership development. It challenges our perceptions and ineffective habitual patterns with respect to voice, which are frequently the result of body stresses, are inextricably linked to the emotions, and are impacted by our relations one with another.

The research was a work of translation and interpretation, given that voice is a complex holistic phenomenon, a product (i.e. sound) which is invisible, made from a place of the body we can not see (larynx) or sometimes feel, linked to both emotional and physical responses, and with an output we hear differently to those around us, the study of which is contributed to by at least thirty-six fields, for which no generalized, multi-layered model or theory exists. Singing, within that, plays a lead role in the exploration as it takes centre stage, asserting its role as an innate phylogenetic predisposition of all people; a tonality, lens and touch through which all life is comprehended.

Beginning with the deconstruction of the vocal professions through a conversation with the literature, I discover a ‘broken’ tradition, holding the essence of contribution, but hindered by the social assumptions of Bel Canto, by the deeply entrenched divisions between vocal professions, by an ignorance of singing within them, by stifling positivist research and conflicting ethical foundations.

The task of reconstruction of the coherent self involved a trans-disciplinary application of experiential techniques for people for whom none of the professions were intended, piecing together the critical components of a new practice, in which I attempt to be fully inclusive, borrowing from the shattered fragments, tethered by none and detached from a single-minded concern for technical considerations.

As my understanding and practice developed, my thinking metamorphosed beyond an education steeped in positivist thinking to an interpretivist reflection of my growing awareness of voice as a truly complex phenomenon, considered through an integrated approach incorporating heuristics and hermeneutics.

During the task of reconstruction, I gradually became aware of four ‘aspects’ of communication which must be comprehended if voice is to be properly understood and “used” in real-life situations. I began to realise that voice (as a medium) worked within its context, expressing content, with emotional impact (or lack thereof) and that all this occurred in relation between self and other. Thus, the work of this research was evoking the fullness of voice, mediating between the singer’s intention and the listener’s receptivity in one integrated, coherent interaction. I found that the emergence of coherence in communication entailed the consideration of voice holistically, healing the broken connections between body and voice and experiencing them through the whole spectrum of sensual awareness.

I discovered that many of us are hindered by the psychic-vocal-prison of our culture, and further restricted by the solitary-vocal-confinement of our organisational context, in which vocal discovery is antithetical to the dominant visual, patriarchal and linear thinking ~ which reinforces poor habitual patterns and works against coherence. I consider the complex and bewildering role of emotions in vocal development and explore the impact of relational imbalances between self and other that lead to a lack of coherence of communication.

The work has been challenging, psychologically uplifting, physically invigorating and creatively rejuvenating and, together with my research participants’ voices, my voice re-developed as I grew side by side with them, adopting the role of perpetual beginner on a journey of mutual enquiry and discovery.