TrueVoice (ENBY Edition)
Your voice is your power! And that power need not be stifled by social pressures toward binary categorization. Regardless of gender expression, cultivating a voice that expresses your identity with support and sustainability – without apology or compromise – is within your reach. Join vocal coach Ryland Shelton for an in-depth, two-day workshop on range expansion, resonance exploration, consistency and sustainability that will put you in touch with the sources of your voice’s power and possibility, and the tools to use them on a daily basis.
TrueVoice is a vocal development program, designed specifically for individuals in the trans/GNC/ENBY community, that utilizes vocal music technique to safely and conscientiously develop aspects of your given instrument to achieve the voice that aligns with your self-identified gender.
This amazing program; which began as a 6-part lab has been streamlined and condensed into a 2-part, intensive weekend workshop. The class begins with a simple statement of goals. Simply masculinizing or feminizing the voice is not our primary interest; our goal together is to unlock the voice that is yours, that you hear when you think of yourself. From there, we use musical instruction technique to safely stretch the boundaries of clients’ vocal ranges. By using the unique connection our brains have with music as opposed to the connection they have with speech, entirely new possibilities with regard to using the voice open up.
Although we do use music technique in this work, this is not a performance class. This course is designed to supplement and build on top of speech therapy work that clients have taken on. Our goal is to discover new possibilities and to lay the groundwork for creating new habits that support an everyday speaking voice that is unapologetic, confident, expressive, and 100% you. Our goal is to find your true voice.
NOTE: There is a lot of information offered in this class, so we encourage you to take notes to get the most out of this class. You can use pad & paper, voice memo apps, etc. Whatever is most comfortable for you!
INSTRUCTOR
Ryland Shelton is a vocal coach who works with pop artists, singer-songwriters, stage performers and actors, both in private session and on set for movie musicals and television shows. Most recently, his work on the major motion picture “Crazy For The Boys” (summer 2018) kept him in rehearsal and recording studios in LA and on set in Savannah, Georgia for the majority of 2017. He is also an actor, recording artist, and dedicated advocate for the LGBTQ community.
His newest program in vocal development, TrueVoice, is a vocal expression curriculum designed specifically for members of the trans/GNC/ENBY community. Ryland studied vocal performance at New York University.
TrueVoice Vocal Development began in 2017 by vocal coach Ryland Shelton as a way to help a friend find her voice. After a conversation between Ryland and his friend, Sonja, about barriers holding her back from using her voice as a trans woman, Ryland decided to experiment with his knowledge of vocal technique and resonance to work with Sonja and strengthen a voice that felt representative of her identity and gender, while still authentically coming from her instrument. The success of their work together inspired Ryland to create group workshops around his newfound technique.
The first group workshop of TrueVoice Vocal Development took place at Trans* Lounge at the Los Angeles LGBT Center in April 2018. Since then, TrueVoice has continued to expand its work for the trans* community to include trans-feminine, trans-masculine and non-binary focused programs, Master Classes for return participants to more finely tune skills learned, as well as curriculum designed for youth and for leaders & allies.
To date, TrueVoice has conducted more than 20 group workshops and speaking events, amounting to hundreds of participants, at venues including Trans* Lounge, One Iowa, CenterLink National Conference of LGBT Centers, Models of Pride Youth Conference, and more. For news, press coverage, client testimonials and more, please visit: https://www.truevoicevocaldevelopment.com/.