Angela Caine AGSM LRAM

Qualifications, Experience and Associations

AGSM in piano and LRAM in singing.
Qualified teacher with thirty years experience.
Three year full-time study of The Alexander Technique at Fellside Alexander School, Kendal.
Member of the Musicians' Union.
Member of Cranio Group, an international organisation of clinicians to promote the understanding, function and management of the whole body.
Member of The British Society for the Study of Cranio-mandibular Disorders (BSSCMD).
Speaker at International Conferences.

Angela's Teaching Experience

Teaching of singing and music in Warwickshire schools (1960-70).
Voice tutor and singing teacher at University of Warwick, University of East Anglia, Highgate Alexander School and University of Southampton (1972-1999).
In-service teacher training on voice for Warwickshire and Norfolk schools (1978-1992).
Performance Workshops in association with professional singers, musicians and recording Artists.
Workshops on voice development and maintenance for teachers.
Training courses and workshops on voice and presentation skills for Law South, House of Colour, Southampton and Hampshire County Councils, London Gay Men's Choir, Royal Academy of Music, Royal College of Music, HSBC and the NHS.
Workshops on Early VoiceGym as part of the National 'Sing-Up' programme (2008).

Angela's Performing Experience

Professional operatic roles.
Principal Soprano in Oratorio.
Appearances in cabaret, shows and concerts involving all musical styles.
Has directed and produced various operas in schools and colleges.

Research, Publications and Presentations

For the last fifteen years Angela has researched the problems of professional voices in performance. Her research has resulted in a number of articles and presentations addressing development of vocal potential, performance stress and the effect of both inappropriate dentistry and inappropriate training on performers' voices. She has run workshops and presentations on the subject at international conferences including:
- International Conference on Health and the Musician, University of York, UK, 23-27 March, 1997.
- 2nd Pan European Voice Conference (PEVOCII), University of Regensburg, Germany, 29-31 August 1997.
- 3rd Barcelona Orthodontic Meeting on "Multidisciplinary Treatment in Orthodontics", Catalonian Dental Association, Barcelona, Spain, 13-15 March 2003.
- 9th International Symposium for Facial Growth Guidance, UK, 6-9 May 2004.
- 3rd Annual Symposium of the British Society for the Study of Craniomandibular Disorders, London, UK, 20-21 May 2005.
- Inaugral meeting of the International Functional Association, Paris, 8-9 November 2007.

Television and Radio Appearances

Concerts with BBC Welsh Symphony Orchestra, BBC third programme, 1958.
The Health Show with Angela Rippon, BBC radio 5, 18 July 1991.
Woman's Hour, BBC radio 4, 2 September 1991.
This Morning, ITV, 31 March 1992 and 9 November 1993.
Summer Scene, BBC1, 14 August 1992.
Various appearances on Julian Clegg's Breakfast Programme on BBC Radio Solent, March to May 2000, to train (on air) the Radio Solent Music Live Choir.
"Would like to meet", first shown on BBC3, 27 July 2003 and repeated on BBC2 in November. Angela puts Julian Small through the Voice Gym course to improve his prospects.

All Very Impressive, Isn't It?

But somewhere in the middle of this apparently successful career I discovered that the voice training I had received to fit me for this life of singing covered only the music I had to sing: I knew nothing about the voice itself. When I began to have voice problems in my 30's I didn't know why they were happening. I sought help from teachers of singing and voice therapists. Nothing they suggested was of any help and they did not seem to know why these problems were happening! My voice continued to deteriorate. Eventually I could not sing at all and it was then suggested that I should concentrate on the teaching of singing because of my extensive knowledge of the singing repertoire and its performance.

Wait a minute! If I couldn’t speak German would anyone ask me to teach someone else to speak it? If I can't sing, what am I doing teaching singing? That was the moment that VoiceGym was conceived - out of desperation of a failed singer, by hope of a multi-disciplinary approach to the function of this instrument I could not bear to lose. It soon became obvious that the training I had received was at least 50% of my voice problem because most singing teachers know nothing about functonal anatomy, and are giving instructions that eventually cause problems. I can now sing again, I know why I lost my voice and that I will never lose it again, but I have had to throw away my early voice training and re-programme the muscles controlling the instrument according to natural anatomical function. The story is in the Devil Within.

In order to put together this unique voice work I have worked across the barriers of many different disciplines. This includes ...

Working with professional singers whose voice problems have defeated everyone else.
Working with children with motor difficulties in the clinic of a cranial osteopath to discover the effect of rhythm on posture and vocal response.
Attending courses on birth trauma, primitive reflexes and on the selection and fitting of orthodontic appliances, to discover their effect on the young developing singer.
Working in dental clinics with children whose severe tongue thrust threatens to negate tooth repositioning. I gave these children tongue exercises which included whole body balance, stretch and rhythm.

This work opened a field of research hitherto totally ignored by voice therapists and singing teachers. It also demonstrated to me that singing, and having a good voice, is fundamentally important to everyone. The results have enabled me to expose the dangers of ignoring functional anatomy, dentistry and skeletal misalignment. I have now established a multidisciplinary network, involving cranial chiropractors, osteopaths and dentists who are also 'voice aware'.

Four books have influenced my teaching more than all others and non are singing books

Use your Head by Tony Buzan, because it teaches you the importance of the right brain (BBC Books, UK: ISBN 0-563-21082-6)
The Human Vocal Tract - Anatomy, Function, Development, Evolution by Edmund Crelin (Vantage Press, New York: ISBN 0-533-06967-X): dedicated by Crelin to his graduate students at Yale: "In order to advise them, I was often compelled to broaden my scientific horizons by going beyond my immediate area of expertise"
The Dental Distress Syndrome by Alred Fonder (Medical-Dental Arts, Rock Falls, Illinois)
Reflexes, Learning and Behaviour - a window into the child's mind by Sally Goddard (Fern Ridge Press, Oregon: ISBN 0-9615332).

The book that says it all - The Devil Within

This year - 2006 - I have finally put the whole story of my voice loss and recovery together in 'The Devil Within,' available from this website. It tells this story using prose, poems and photographs. Read it to discover the real power of the voice to influence your life.

"...There seemed to be no one who recognised my struggle, who could see what I was going through to sing. What had been the best part of my life and the place where I excelled was now agony. I was terrified every time I sang in public, but still I was invited to take on all kinds of work because I had a reputation for accuracy and reliability and for having a lovely voice, good to listen to. I gave everything I could to please, even with the trembling jaw and the tense and frightened body and the audience obviously appreciated that I gave my all. But the cost was high. I began to get sore throats and became quite obsessed with keeping quiet before performances 'to rest my voice'..."

£9.99 from this website