The Theatrical Voice Research Centre Conference - call for papers

About us

The Theatrical Voice Research Centre is a network of researchers, practitioners and cultural organisations working around the human voice from multiple socio-cultural perspectives and across different genres. The Centre currently connects over 100 members across the globe and shares resources and projects on the singing and spoken voice in both live and mediated settings. 

Call for papers

The Centre is now launching an annual conference on all aspects, perspectives and traditions of the voice in theatrical settings as an opportunity for scholars and industry professionals to come together and foster their interests in this burgeoning area of study. The first meeting will take place at the University of Surrey from 24 to 26 June 2026. Subsequent meetings will be hosted by other institutions, and will offer scholars, industry professionals and enthusiasts worldwide an opportunity to meet in different locations. 

The Conference Committee invites proposals from doctoral students, early career and senior academics, scholar-practitioners and industry professionals on the following, not exhaustive, list of topics:

• Performing the theatrical voice: genres, traditions, trainings and cultures;
• The theatrical voice and the embodiment of gender, race, ethnicity, disability, class and citizenship;
• The theatrical voice in transnational and global contexts;
• The interactions between singing and spoken voice in theatrical settings in the widest range of genres, periods and traditions;
• Vocal gestures, bodily movement and the making of meaning;
• Voice and theatricality at the intersection of popular and classical idioms;
• Historical and contemporary pedagogies of the theatrical voice;
• Voice, theatricality and celebrity;
• The mediation of the theatrical voice through recording technologies from the beginnings of recording to the present day;
• The relationship between live and recorded theatrical voice performance;
• The remediation of the theatrical voice in other media, including radio, television, cinema, digital and social media.

The Conference Committee welcomes the following formats:

• 20-minute papers followed by 10-minute questions (abstracts of maximum 250 words plus biographies of 120 words);
• 30-minute lecture recitals followed by 10-minute questions (abstracts of maximum 250 words plus biographies of 120 words);
• 90-minute panel sessions (abstracts of maximum 750 words plus 120-word biography of each participant).

Abstracts and short biographies should be sent to Barbara Gentili at b.gentili@surrey.ac.uk by 16 February 2026, including the applicant’s institutional affiliation and contact details. Decisions will be communicated by 13 March.

Programme Committee

• Luca Aversano, Roma Tre University
• Dominic Broomfield-McHugh, University of Sheffield
• Richard Elliott, Newcastle University
• Céline Frigau Manning, Université Lyon 3
• Barbara Gentili, University of Surrey
• Clair Rowden, University of Glasgow
• Jed Wentz, Leiden University

Theatrical Voice Research Centre