Congratulations to Amanda Flynn

Amanda Flynn was announced as the winner of the 2019 Van L. Lawrence Fellowship, co-presented by The Voice Foundation and NATS Foundation. Flynn is currently on the music theater voice faculty at Pace University and is also the owner of a private studio with clients performing on Broadway, Off Broadway, national tours, international tours, and regional theater. She is also currently the Production Vocal Coach for Be More Chill on Broadway, and was the Production Vocal Coach for the Drama Desk nominated Off-Broadway show The Lightning Thief.

Flynn works frequently with injured singers, collaborating with laryngologists and voice therapists in NYC. As a performer, Amanda was an original cast member of the LA company of Wicked, part of the Las Vegas company of Mamma Mia, and toured the country on the national tour of the Broadway revival of Oklahoma. After initially studying voice at Baylor University, Amanda began performing professionally before finishing her BS in Liberal Arts at The New School. Amanda holds a MM in Vocal Performance with a Music Theater concentration as well as an Advanced Certificate in Vocal Pedagogy, both from NYU. She completed the Vocology Mentorship at Mt. Sinai Medical Center, the Distinguished Voice Professional certificate from NYSTA, and completed her Certificate in Vocology from NCVS and The University of Utah. She is an active voice researcher and has presented research at the Fall Voice Conference, The Voice Foundation, the PAVA Symposium, the VASTA Conference, and the NATS National Conference.

This year’s Fellowship Awardee completed a research project alongside colleagues Jared Trudeau and Dr. Aaron Johnson entitled Acoustic Comparison of Lower and Higher Belt Ranges in Professional Broadway Actresses, currently in press with Journal of Voice.

Flynn states that “this study brought to light new insights but only scratched the surface of what else could be learned. In order to fully understand belting in all its complexities, further research is needed.”

With the Van Lawrence Fellowship, “my research will hopefully provide voice teachers with more tangible evidence of belt function. Learning more about vocal tract shape, jaw opening, and closed quotient with MRI and high-speed endoscopy will help increase the specificity with which we teach belting. This research will also help voice therapists better understand how to work with injured belters in voice therapy. The initial phase of the project has already brought about changes in my pedagogical approach and understanding of function. Further studies will only enhance the teaching, rehabilitation, and sustainability of belting.”

• Award Presentation will be on Friday, May 31, 11:50 am  at the 48th Annual Symposium: Care of the Professional Voice
• Information about and past winners of the Van L. Lawrence Award
• 2019 Award announcement on The Voice Foundation website