The Yale Voice Center at Greenwich Hospital has partnered with Greenwich Arts Council to present a three-part series of concerts and lectures beginning Thursday, October 20, called “Healing Voices: At the Intersection of Vocal Arts and Vocal Health” that celebrate the wonders of the human voice.
Actor, singer and comedienne Klea Blackhurst will be the headliner at the first event on Thursday, Oct. 20 at the Greenwich Arts Council. The event will include an examination of Blackhurst’s vocal cords while she demonstrates different vocal tasks. Blackhurst, known for her award-winning tribute to Ethel Merman, will also present a selection of musical numbers.
The second event in January 2023 will feature singers who worked with the Yale Voice Center to maintain vocal health or rehabilitate their singing voice. The final event in April 2023 will feature speech language pathologists who are also professional singers.
Blackhurst recently visited the Yale Voice Center where she met with Michael Lerner, MD, the center’s medical director, and Andrew Keltz, a voice pathologist and former actor/singer. Dr. Lerner used a laryngoscope to examine the singer’s vocal cords. Dr. Lerner performed an examination called laryngeal stroboscopy that uses high-definition optics coupled with a special strobe light synchronized to each patient’s unique vocal frequency. The Yale Voice Center offers state-of-the-art care for those with voice and swallowing disorders.
For Blackhurst, the visit to Yale Voice Center offered a flash from the past. Considered to have a model larynx at a young age, Blackhurst participated in a study conducted by Eiji Yanagisawa, MD, at Yale New Haven Hospital more than 30 years ago.
“A photograph of your larynx is truly worth a thousand words. When you see it working in real time, there is no end to the wonder,” said Blackhurst.
