Current PAVA Board of Directors
President: Aaron Johnson
Like most vocologists, Aaron Johnson’s career path has been varied and multidisciplinary. He began as a singer, studying vocal performance at Northwestern University, and then sang professionally and taught singing for over a decade. In 2005 he shifted his focus to the health and science of the voice and discovered his passion for voice research at the Summer Vocology Institute. He earned a master of science in speech-language pathology from Rush University and a research doctorate from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and spent four years on the faculty in the Department of Speech and Hearing Science at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. In 2016 he joined the New York University (NYU) Voice Center as an assistant professor of otolaryngology in the NYU School of Medicine. At NYU he is able to draw upon his multidisciplinary background as a clinician, researcher, and educator. As a speech-language pathologist and singing voice specialist, he evaluates and treats voice disorders in performers. He also directs an NIH-funded research laboratory investigating the neuromuscular mechanisms underlying vocal exercise. Through collaborations across NYU he is able to direct singing-voice research, teach future vocologists, and move the field of vocology forward.
Past President: Leda Scearce
Leda Scearce, MM, MS, CCC-SLP is a clinical singing voice specialist, clinical associate faculty, director of performing voice programs and development at Duke Voice Care Center, and coordinator of community engagement for the Division of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery & Communication Sciences at Duke University School of Medicine. A singer and voice teacher for over 30 years, she provides voice evaluation and rehabilitation therapy to singers, actors, and other vocal performers with voice injuries. She holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in voice performance from Indiana University, and a master’s degree in speech pathology from Boston University. Scearce is a frequent speaker at national and international voice conferences. Her performance experience includes appearances as leading soprano and soloist with opera companies, orchestras, and music festivals across the US. She is the author of Manual of Singing Voice Rehabilitation: A Practical Approach to Vocal Health and Wellness (Plural), and is a founding member of PAVA.
Vice President: Kenneth Bozeman
Kenneth Bozeman, BM, MM, professor emeritus of music, taught at Lawrence University for 42 years where he chaired the voice department and from which he received two awards for excellence in teaching. He holds performance degrees from Baylor University and the University of Arizona, and studied at the Conservatory of Music in Munich. He was awarded the Van Lawrence Fellowship by the Voice Foundation for his interest in voice science and is the chair of the editorial board of the Journal of Singing. He was inducted into the American Academy of Teachers of Singing in 2019. His writings on acoustic voice pedagogy include the books, Practical Vocal Acoustics: Pedagogic Applications for Teachers and Singers and Kinesthetic Voice Pedagogy: Motivating Acoustic Efficiency. Bozeman’s students have sung with Houston Grand, Boston Lyric, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Dresden Opera, San Francisco, New York City, the Metropolitan, Chicago Lyric, and Santa Fe Opera.
Treasurer: Tara Nixon
Tara Nixon, MM, MS, CCC-SLP, is a senior clinical speech-language pathologist and clinical singing voice specialist at Duke Voice Care Center and independent voice teacher from her studio in Durham, NC. She received dual master’s degrees from Appalachian State University in vocal performance and speech-language pathology, following a baccalaureate at New College of Florida. Passionate about sharing vocal health knowledge with singers from all walks of life, Nixon frequently presents on various aspects of singing voice rehabilitation and performs professionally as a classical soprano, jazz vocalist, and blues chanteuse. In 2017, Nixon was chosen to participate in the NATS Intern Program in Toronto. In addition to her involvement in NATS and PAVA, Nixon is also an active member of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) and the Voice and Speech Trainers Association (VASTA).
Membership Director: Rachel VelardeRachel Velarde is currently associate professor of music at Grand Canyon University in Phoenix, AZ, teaching voice, song literature, and voice pedagogy to undergraduate students. She grew up in Bloomington, IN (Mary Goetze, then-director of the Indiana University Children’s Choir, has continued to be a musical mentor). When she was six years old, her family moved to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia for two years. Her experiences gave her a lasting impression about the universality of humanity. She has traveled to France and Austria, and has regularly traveled to Italy, as a performer and as voice faculty. Dr. Velarde received her BA in Music from Smith College in Northampton, MA in 1994. She earned two master of music degrees, in vocal performance and vocal pedagogy, from Arizona State University in 1997, and her DMA in vocal performance from from the same institution in 2013. Dr. Velarde began teaching private voice and piano lessons in 1993 and became a member of the National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS) in 1996, and has served in multiple board positions. In 2012, Rachel received Honorable Mention for the Van L. Lawrence Fellowship in vocal pedagogy research, and completed the Wicklund Singing Voice Specialist (SVS) Certification. She became a PAVA member in 2016 and is passionate about spreading the PAVA mission to colleagues worldwide.
Communications Director: Anna Hersey
A noted expert on Scandinavian music, soprano Anna Hersey was a Fulbright Scholar at the Royal College of Music in Stockholm. Her articles have been published in the Journal of Singing, VOICEPrints, and The Opera Journal. Her first book, Scandinavian Song, was published by Rowman & Littlefield. Hersey completed the Vocal Pedagogy Certificate at the University of Minnesota, and has studied vocology with Johan Sundberg at the Royal Institute of Technology in Sweden, and with Ingo Titze at the Summer Vocology Institute. She was the 2015 recipient of the NATS Pedagogy Award. She is an active member of professional organizations, and has presented at NATS, ACDA, NOA, MTNA, CMS, and PAVA conferences. She holds master’s degrees in performance and ethnomusicology from the University of Minnesota, and a DMA from the University of Miami. She is currently assistant professor at the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh, and is editor-in-chief of VOICEPrints and lecture-recitals editor for the College Music Symposium.
Latin American Governor: Ana Flavia Zuim
Ana Flavia is an award-winning musical director, an accomplished conductor, pianist, singing health specialist, and electric bassist. She is a music assistant professor serving as director of vocal performance at Steinhardt School at NYU. She earned her bachelor's at State University of Londrina (UEL - 2003) in her native country, Brazil. She holds a master’s in piano performance (Lynn University, 2006), a doctorate fine and performing arts (Florida Atlantic University, 2012) and a vocology certificate (University of Utah, 2015). Prior to joining NYU, she served as director of contemporary voice at the Frost School of Music with a secondary appointment as lecturer of otolaryngology at the Miller School of Medicine, University of Miami. Among her credits are the Broadway musical Hamilton (rehearsal pianist), the Broadway Across America tours of Billy Elliot (associate conductor/vocal coach), and key’s sub on Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Matilda, Kinky Boots, The Wizard of Oz, Annie, and The Sound of Music.
Western Governor: Brian Manternach
Central Governor: Matt Schloneger
Matthew Schloneger is associate professor of voice at Friends University, where he teaches applied voice, pedagogy, diction, opera, and musical theatre. He holds a PhD in vocal pedagogy from the University of Kansas, an MM in voice from the University of Cincinnati, and a BA from Goshen College. He was a Rotary Scholar at the Civica Scuola di Musica di Milano and holds a certificate in French language from the Sorbonne. An active performer, Schloneger has performed principal roles with Opera Theatre of St. Louis, Wichita Grand Opera, Opera Kansas, and Operafestival di Roma, among others. His ongoing singing voice research, focusing on singers’ health, resulted in the Van Lawrence Fellowship of NATS and the Voice Foundation in 2017 and Best Research Poster at the NATS National Convention in 2014. His research has been published in the Journal of Voice, the Journal of Singing, the Journal of Research in Music Education, the Choral Journal and the International Journal of Research in Choral Singing.
Eastern Governor: Rachelle Fleming
Rachelle Fleming is nationally recognized in the training and vocal health of the contemporary vocal artist and is an NCVS-trained vocologist. Dr. Fleming holds a doctorate in vocal pedagogy and performance from the University of Miami, a research master's degree in music education from the Eastman School of Music, and a bachelor of music in voice performance. Additional coursework includes pedagogical coursework in two of the leading commercial vocal music training programs. Dr. Fleming is an associate professor at Temple University and on the faculty of the Aspen Music Festival. She was previously an assistant professor at The Catholic University of America, and has taught for The Eastman School of Music, The Actors Studio MFA program at The New School, The Eastman School of Music Community Division, and the University of Miami. Dr. Fleming’s students perform on Broadway, in National Tours, at Madison Square Garden, the Metropolitan Opera, Signature Theater, regional theaters and in film. She is in-demand internationally for master classes and as an artist-in-residence.
Canadian Governor: Melanie Tapson
Melanie Tapson is a singer and speech-language pathologist focused on voice care for professional voice users and performers and transgender voice and communication training. She holds a BFA in jazz voice, a BEd in senior vocal music/drama, and an MSc in SLP. She maintains multiple professional designations and a certificate in performing arts health from PAMA and ACSM.
Tapson keeps up with current research in therapeutic interventions for voice. She is an adjunct lecturer at the University of Toronto, lectures at the Glenn Gould School, and frequently gives workshops by invitation. Her twenty years as a professional performer, combined with her training and experience as an educator and SLP provides her with a unique perspective. She believes that treating the voice requires treating the whole person through a collaborative approach. She empathizes with the demands of the professional voice user’s schedule and lifestyle first-hand, and she fiercely advocates for preventative voice care. Tapson remains active singing in musical theatre productions and doing voiceover work.
Ingo Titze
Past President (Term: 2017-2019)
President (Term: 2015-2017)
Dr. Ingo R. Titze has served as director of the National Center for Voice and Speech since 1990, which is currently headquartered at the University of Utah. He is also a University of Iowa Foundation Distinguished Professor of Voice, Speech, and Vocal Music.
He has published 450 articles in scientific and educational journals. His book publications include Principles of Voice Production (1994), The Myoelastic-Aerodynamic Theory of Phonation (2006); in collaboration with Katherine Verdolini, Vocology: The Science and Practice of Voice Habilitation (2012); and Fascinations with the Human Voice (2010), which is printed in eight languages. His research interests include biomechanics of human tissues, acoustic phonetics, speech science, voice disorders, professional voice production, and the computer simulation of voice. His formal training is in electrical engineering (MS) and physics (PhD).
Dr. Titze is a founding member and first elected President of the Pan-American Vocology Association. He has administered and taught in the Summer Vocology Institute, the premiere vocology training program, for 18 years. His professional affiliations include the Acoustical Society of America, The National Association of Teachers of Singing, the American Speech Language Hearing Association, and the American Laryngological Association. Honors include The Gould Award for outstanding research in laryngeal physiology (1984), and the Silver Medal Award from the Acoustical Society of America (2007).
Marci Daniels Rosenberg
Vice President (Term: 2017-2019)
Marci Daniels Rosenberg, BM, MS, CCC-SLP, is a voice and singing specialist at the University of Michigan Vocal Health Center where she has worked clinically to rehabilitate injured voices. A nationally recognized singing voice specialist, Rosenberg actively teaches workshops and lectures on vocal health, performance voice, managing vocal injuries, and application of kinesiology and exercise physiology principles to voice training. She has served on the faculty for Somatic Voicework The LoVetri method at the Contemporary Commercial Music Institute at Shenandoah Conservatory. Currently, she is a featured guest teacher at The New CCM Vocal Pedagogy Institute at Shenandoah.
She is co-author of the popular, internationally recognized singing science textbook The Vocal Athlete and its companion volume The Vocal Athlete: Application and Technique for the Hybrid Singer (Plural Publishing, 2014). Rosenberg is a founding member of the Pan American Vocology Association (PAVA), where she has actively served on the credentialing committee. In addition to her clinical activities, Rosenberg continues to perform and maintains a private voice consulting studio in the Ann Arbor area.
John Nix
Vice President (Term: 2015-2017)
John Nix is chair of the voice area and professor of voice and Voice Pedagogy at the University of Texas at San Antonio. He holds degrees in vocal performance from the University of Georgia and the University of Colorado, and vocology certification from the University of Iowa. His current and former students have sung with the Santa Fe Opera, Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, Chautauqua Opera, Opera Omaha, Arizona Opera, Nevada Opera, The Soldiers’ Chorus, The Mormon Tabernacle Choir, the Metropolitan Opera Chorus, and on national Broadway tours. He was the 2006 Van Lawrence Award winner, has won grants from NIH and the Grammy Foundation, has
published more than 40 articles, and edited or contributed to five books, including the new Oxford Handbook of Singing.
Lynn Maxfield
Treasurer (Term: 2015-2018)
Amelia Rollings
Membership Director (Term: 2017-2019)
Amelia Rollings holds a PhD in vocal pedagogy from the University of Kansas and an MM in voice performance and pedagogy from The Pennsylvania State University. Operatic and oratorio roles include the soprano soloist in Verdi’s Requiem, Third Norn in Wagner’s Götterdämmerung, Lady Billows in Britten’s Albert Herring, Magda Sorel in Menotti’s The Consul, and Witch in Humperdinck’s Hansel and Gretel. Musical theatre roles include Pirelli in Sweeney Todd, Bellomy in The Fantasticks, and Saraghina in Yeston’s Nine.
Rollings currently teaches in the Theatre & Dance Department at Western Kentucky University as assistant professor of musical theatre voice. Dr. Rollings was recently awarded the 2018 Van L. Lawrence Fellowship, an award given by The National Association of Teachers of Singing and The Voice Foundation.An active researcher in vocal pedagogy, she has presented her research in such refereed venues as The Voice Foundation Symposium, The International Phenomenon of Singing Symposium, The Singing Network, the Pan-American Vocology Association Symposium, the National Association of Teachers of Singing National Conference, the Fall Voice Conference, and the Ohio State Voice Forum. Her primary research interests include musical theatre voice pedagogy, group voice teaching, and the effects of shoe heel heights, head position, and jaw opening on acoustical and perceptual measures of singing efficiency. Her most recent publication on the effects of high-heeled shoes can be found in the Journal of Voice.
Matthew Hoch
Membership Director (Term: 2015-2017)
Matthew Hoch is associate professor of voice at Auburn University. He has presented his research at many national and international conferences, including meetings of the International Congress of Voice Teachers (ICVT), National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS), Pan-European Voice Conference (PEVOC), Pan American Vocology Association (PAVA), and the Voice Foundation. Hoch’s published bibliography includes seven books as single author, first author, or principal editor and twenty-eight peer-reviewed articles in over a dozen academic and professional journals. He holds a BM from Ithaca College with a triple major in vocal performance, music education, and music theory; an MM from the Hartt School with a double major in vocal performance and music history; a DMA from the New England Conservatory in vocal performance; and the Certificate in Vocology from the National Center for Voice and Speech. Hoch is the 2016 winner of the Van L. Lawrence Award.
Matthew Edwards
Secretary (Term: 2015-2018)
Matt Edwards is an associate professor of voice and coordinator of musical theatre voice at Shenandoah Conservatory, where he also leads the CCM Vocal Pedagogy Institute. He is the author of So You Want to Sing Rock ‘N’ Roll? and an avid blogger. He has also authored chapters for The Vocal Athlete, A Dictionary for the Modern Singer, Get the Callback, and multiple volumes of the NATS So You Want to Sing book series. His articles have appeared in the Journal of Singing, Journal of Voice, Southern Theatre, American Music Teacher, NYSTA's VOICEPrints, and Voice Council magazine. He has presented at the Voice Foundation Annual Symposium, the National Center for Voice and Speech, Acoustical Society of America, the Musical Theatre Educators Alliance, the Southeastern Theatre Conference, and has been a featured clinician for the NATS National Conference, Duke Voice Care Center, and dozens of universities and NATS chapters. Online at EdwardsVoice.com and CCMInstitute.com.
Karin Titze Cox
Western Governor (Term: 2015-2018)
Karin Titze Cox, MA, CCC/SLP, vocologist, received her MA (vocology track certificate) from the University of Iowa. She was mentored there by Verdolini, Carrol, and Titze. Her undergrad degree from Brigham Young University included a minor in music and vocal performance with Dr. Wilberg and work with Dr. Gray's clinic at the University of Utah. She also worked with many outstanding colleagues during her employment at University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics and in the research lab at Iowa. Her decades of experience in inpatient/outpatient clinical settings at universities and in private practice (ENT Specialists SLC, Utah) and her performance experience as a singer and voice teacher complements her knowledge of voice science. She continues to be involved in research and presents around the country and world. Licensed in Utah and California, she’s currently clinic director of a large private voice clinic and enjoys training and working with future vocologists. She also educates various outside organizations and is involved in research at the National Center of Voice and Speech while teaching for the Summer Vocology Institute. As Western Regional Governor for three years, she found committees in outreach and education within community, media, and Latin America very rewarding.
Liz Johnson
Central Governor (Term: 2017-2019)
Liz Johnson has a master’s degree in commercial vocal performance, a bachelor's degree in psychology, and also completed a Certificate in Vocology through the University of Utah and the National Center for Voice and Speech. She has been a professor of jazz voice at Vanderbilt University, held voice faculty positions at both Trevecca Nazarene and Belmont Universities, and currently teaches at the Nashville Jazz Workshop and owns her own business.
She primarily works in vocal habilitation, and is dedicated to bringing practical vocology tools to audiences and professional working singers across the US. She recently founded a blog for vocal practice as a way to disseminate free voice information that integrates psychology, vocal pedagogy, jazz and science, and she has created a YouTube series called “Interviews on Voice Matters.”
Martin Spencer
Central Governor (Term: 2015-2017)
Martin Spencer is a voice pathologist and musician in Columbus, Ohio. He was on the seminal Specialty Training Vocal Health Steering Committee, charter PAVA Board 2013-15, Symposium Steering Committee 2015, and elected to PAVA’s first Board of Directors (Central Region Governor) 2015-17. He was co-chair of PAVA’s October 2016 Symposium and a coordinator of future PAVA meetings. Spencer was previously President of the Ohio Voice Association and organized four regional conventions.
Spencer received his vocology-track MA from the University of Iowa, and published research with Ingo Titze. Additional education venues include the University of Toronto, Banff School of Fine Arts, and Britten-Pears School of Advanced Musical Study. He has published widely in journals and textbooks, centering on the amalgamation of singing/theater pedagogy with voice pathology. He performed with the Canadian Opera Company and the Stratford Festival, and was a professor in Humber College’s Jazz Studies Program.
Julia Gerhard
Eastern Governor (Term: 2017-2019)
Julia Gerhard is a speech pathologist and singer with a passion for interdisciplinary voice education and professional voice rehabilitation. She earned a doctorate in musical arts in vocal performance and a master of arts in speech-language pathology from Temple University. She also completed the Summer Vocology Institute in 2010. This training eventually led to a clinical fellowship at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and a faculty appointment at the University of Miami in the Department of Otolaryngology. At the University of Miami, Gerhard and the medical voice team worked together with faculty from the vocal performance department to foster learning opportunities for voice students including a pedagogy internship program within the voice clinic, World Voice Day events, and educational lectures. Now, as a new mother recently relocated to central Florida, she works as a speech pathologist for Florida Hospital on a per diem basis.
Katherine Verdolini
Eastern Governor (Term: 2015-2017)
Katherine Verdolini Abbott, PhD, CCC-SLP, MDiv, holds her master’s degree in speech-language pathology from Indiana University, and her PhD in experimental psychology/cognitive science from Washington University in St. Louis. Prior academic appointments have included The University of Iowa, Harvard Medical School, and the University of Pittsburgh. She is currently professor in the newly established program in communication sciences and disorders at the University of Delaware. Research interests have included hydration and voice, exercise physiology and voice, personality and emotions and voice, laryngeal wound healing, motor learning, and clinical trials. She is a fellow of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, from which she also received Association Honors, the Association's highest award.
Members of the Founding Board of Directors
Linda Carroll, Starr Cookman, James Daugherty, Kate Devore, Marco Guzman, Lynn Helding, Eric Hunter, Art Joslin, Mara Kapsner-Smith, Lynn Maxfield, Scott McCoy, John Nix, Leda Scearce, Martin Spencer, and Ingo Titze.