We are pleased to announce a new season of NATS Chat, with the continued sponsorship of Inside View Press. The live, online monthly discussions take place on Sunday evenings, beginning on October 13 with guests Cynthia Vaughan, Jerry Elsbernd, and Nikki Loney on the topic: Discovering your Niche Market. We are also excited to have 2019 Tony Award winner Santino Fontana as our special guest on January 12, 2020, for a lively conversation session. Registration links will be coming soon. See below for the complete 2019-2020 schedule.

NATS Chat, presented by Inside View Press, is an online discussion for voice teachers and singers. Topics vary widely and have included classical and CCM (Contemporary Commercial Music) vocal technique, vocal repertoire, teaching strategies, business strategies for private studio teachers, resources for university teachers, and arts advocacy. Guests have included prominent teachers, authors, composers, and artists. Your host and coordinator for NATS Chat is Dr. Kari Ragan.

2019-2020 NATS Chat Season, presented by Inside View Press

Sunday, October 13, 2019
Guests:  Cynthia Vaughn, Jerry Elsbernd, and Nikki Loney
Topic: Discovering your Niche Market 

Description: NATS Independent teachers often start out as generalists, teaching a wide variety of community singers. Over time, however, teachers may develop a reputation for successful teaching specializing in a specific type of singer or vocal style. Three independent NATS teachers discuss the what, how, and why of discovering a niche market, including recreational adult singers, young tenors and baritones, and child singers.

Sunday, November 10, 2019
Sponsored by The Voice Foundation
Guests: Lynn Helding and Lynn Maxfield
Topic: Motor Learning Part II: Focus? Locus? Hocus-pocus?

Description: The question of where performers in the physical realm should place their attention during both learning and performing - externally, on the desired outcome, or internally, on the mechanics of movement - is hotly debated in current motor learning theory. Proponents of external focus claim that its superior results mean the case is closed. Other recent researchers in motor learning theory say the jury is still out, and question whether external focus is appropriate, or even possible, in all situations. Guests Lynn Helding and Lynn Maxfield will discuss both sides of the debate.

Sunday, December 8, 2019
Sponsored by The Voice Foundation
Guests: Adam Rubin, M.D. and Juliana Codino CCC-SLP
Topic: Keeping the Singer Singing

Description: This NATS Chat will explore a host of relevant vocal health concerns with the laryngologist and voice pathologist at Lakeshore Professional Voice Center.

Sunday, January 12, 2020
Guest: Santino Fontana
Topic: A conversation with 2019 Tony Award winner Santino Fontana

Description: Perhaps best known to national audiences for providing the voice to the villainous Prince Hans in Disney’s Academy Award-winning animated feature, Frozen, Fontanta was also seen on the CW’s critically acclaimed musical comedy series, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, as Greg. Simultaneously, Santino played David Saperstein, opposite Jennifer Lopez and Ray Liotta, in NBC’s drama series, Shades of Blue. He has many Broadway and television shows to his credit.

Sunday, February 16, 2020
Guest: Joan Melton
Topic: Breath Management Strategies across Performance Genres: Exploratory Studies in the UK and Australia

Description: We will explore the relationship of practical work to ongoing research, and the particular journey made possible by collaborations with physiotherapists and voice specialists in the UK and Australia. Genres of professional voice use observed in exploratory studies have been: acting, classical singing, music theater, jazz, pop, rock, and country.

Sunday, March 8, 2020
Guest: Aaron Ziegler
Title: Cannabis and Singers

Description: Global legalization of cannabis has led to greater acceptance and consumption of cannabis products. Cannabis may be delivered to the body orally, topically, or via inhalation, and each method leads to subtle differences in the desired effect. This NATS Chat will provide singers with information on cannabis consumption and its potential impact to the vocal mechanism.

Sunday, April 19, 2020
Guests: Joanne Bozeman and Cate Frazier-Neely
Topic: Singing Through Change: Serving Women through Midlife, Menopause, and Beyond

Description: Each woman’s singing journey through her midlife and menopausal years is truly unique. Due to hormonal fluctuations during this time of life, many women, though not all, may experience alterations in their singing voice. Through their research and interviews for the book Singing Through Change: Women’s Voices in Midlife, Menopause, and Beyond, the authors have realized that hormonal changes and the ways they manifest in body and voice often mirror the complex metamorphosis that takes place through women's middle years and beyond. In this NATS Chat we are expanding the conversation about these issues and how they affect us as teachers and singers.

Sunday, May 3, 2020
Guest: Tom Burke
Topic:  Creating a Safe Space 

Description: Using insights drawn from the world of motor learning and positive psychology, Tom offers ideas for how to create a safe space to learn and encourage students to take bold creative risks in the studio.