Loraine Sims

The 2016 NATS National Conference in Chicago included a session titled "Coffee and Conversation for the Teachers of Transgender Students." Presenters Nancy Bos and the author thought a handful of interested teachers would appear for the 8:00 a.m. session, but were pleasantly surprised when more than a hundred people were in attendance. Clearly there is much interest in this topic, and that is why the author was invited to write a report for this column on some of the salient points that were discussed.Because gender terminology may not be familiar to everyone, it seems a logical place to begin. Transgender individuals are as diverse as any population, so attempts to categorize may miss the mark. However, the basics include the terms cisgender and transgender. Cisgender means that the gender assigned at birth is in agreement with an individual's gender identity; transgender means that there is a disagreement. Transgender is an adjective, so using the term "transgendered" is incorrect. Adding an "ed" ending to an adjective is generally reserved to describe a feeling or emotion of a person. Nor is "transgendered" a verb form, therefore neither would be appropriate. One can say a transgender man or trans man, but not a transgendered man. I can say that I am Loraine Sims, a cisgender woman and I prefer the pronouns she/her/hers. A female-to-male transgender man (FtM) may prefer to use the pronouns he/him/his and a male-to-female transgender woman (MtF) may prefer to use the pronouns she/her/hers.Some transgender people do not identify with either binary gender designation and may say that they are gender fluid and prefer the pronouns they/ them/their. Other terms like third gender or gender queer may come up. There are also other created pronouns that are not yet in wide-spread usage, such as ne/nem/nir and others. The teacher's job is to ask students which name and pronouns they prefer and then to make every effort to use them. It may be challenging, and sometimes a student in transition may present as one gender sometimes and as another at other times. Be patient with the student and with yourself as you work through this together. It is a sign of disrespect to disregard the request of any individual to be called what they wish. It goes beyond the scope of this discussion, but nevertheless appropriate to mention here that gender identity and sexual orientation are not the same thing. Sexual orientation for transgender individuals can be as diverse as it is for cisgender individuals.One area of great interest, but also of some confusion, is the role of hormone therapy in these transitions. Hormone therapy is a personal decision and may not coincide with the early stages of transition. Therefore, one may have a trans man who is a soprano or mezzo soprano. Choosing repertoire can be a challenge, so an open dialogue about gender neutral song choices would be a good idea. This individual in an academic setting would be very uncomfortable or even distressed by being assigned to a woman's choir during transition. We need to advocate for gender neutral labeling of choral ensembles to prevent this unnecessary anguish. Encourage choral colleagues to use gender neutral language in rehearsals by calling for section voice part names rather than women or men. You will cause an awkward moment in rehearsal and anxious feeling if you have a trans woman singing in the bass section or a trans man in the alto section. Directors should also be sensitive to requiring suitable gender based concert attire for their trans singers.A trans man taking testosterone will experience a profound and permanent voice change with hormone therapy. The speaking and singing voice will drop noticeably. Voice training through this transition is recommended. There are differences between this change and the so-called changing adolescent "male" voice. (I put this in quotations, because a voice cannot be designated as male or female if we hope to change our binary way of thinking; I have not yet found the best way to discuss this in voice pedagogy classes. …

Na primeira década do milênio, o Núcleo de Estudos Filosóficos da Comunicação (FiloCom), da Universidade de São Paulo, concluiu sua Nova Teoria da Comunicação que se dedicou à construção de um conceito de comunicação aplicável a todos os fenômenos comunicacionais (TV, imprensa, rádio; cinema, teatro, artes, dança; ou os utilizados na internet), assim como à constituição de um novo procedimento de pesquisa, o metáporo, que buscava se distanciar da rigidez dos métodos até então utilizados, propondo ao pesquisador imergir no processo para melhor poder senti-lo e transmiti-lo àqueles que consultassem seu trabalho. A divulgação e o debate dessa nova proposta foram realizados na Escola de Comunicações e Artes da USP, em fins de 2010, em evento nacional que contou com a colaboração dos mais importantes representantes nacionais dos estudos, reflexões e pesquisas sobre a comunicação.

INTRODUCTION AND BRIEF HISTORYPlease note that both students discussed in this article have given permission for me to use all personal data included here. An open, honest communication is crucial for developing understanding.When I first met Lucas, he was a soprano with another name. He was not one of my regular university voice students, but enrolled with me in 2012 for summer voice. I remember that I was impressed with the natural beauty of the voice even then. He possessed strong musicianship skills with a genuine musical nature and somewhat of a perfectionist personality. He was determined to work on a Debussy piece that summer that gave both him and his pianist much difficulty. I really do not remember what other repertoire we worked on then, but I smile when I think about how many repetitions of that Debussy song I heard.Time passed and this student changed majors to something other than music for a while. As is often the case, the call to return to music was strong, and he h...

American composer Miriam Gideon (b. 1906) has earned a place as a prominent exponent of American art song through her contribution of high quality works for the genre. This study deals with ten songs chosen to represent her piano/vocal solo songs which span hercompositional life from 1937-1987. Individual studies of each song have been approached from a performer's vantage point, as prepared for a Lecture/Recital. The songs are: Lockung (1937), Vergiftet sind meine Lieder (1937), She Weeps Over Rahoon (1939), Gone in Good Sooth You Are (SONNETS FROM "FATAL INTERVIEW, 1952), Epitaph for a Wag in Mauchline (EPITAPHS FROM ROBERT BURNS, 1952), Mixco (1957), To Music (1957), Farewell Tablet to Agathocles (SONGS OF VOYAGE, 1961), Bells (1966), and To Thomas Moore (POET TO POET, 1987). Information and observations presented for each song include: publication data, source of poetry, suggested voice type, harmonic structure, range, tessitura, meter signature/changing meters, express...

The 2016 NATS National Conference in Chicago included a session titled "Coffee and Conversation for the Teachers of Transgender Students." Presenters Nancy Bos and the author thought a handful of interested teachers would appear for the 8:00 a.m. session, but were pleasantly surprised when more than a hundred people were in attendance. Clearly there is much interest in this topic, and that is why the author was invited to write a report for this column on some of the salient points that were discussed.Because gender terminology may not be familiar to everyone, it seems a logical place to begin. Transgender individuals are as diverse as any population, so attempts to categorize may miss the mark. However, the basics include the terms cisgender and transgender. Cisgender means that the gender assigned at birth is in agreement with an individual's gender identity; transgender means that there is a disagreement. Transgender is an adjective, so using the term "transgen...