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48 Speak Out June 2016
victoria
Vic 1727
Members
Branch News
as at April 2016
World Voice Day, a day for celebrating
and exploring the power of voice. Voices the
world over, heard. A culmination of singing,
communicating, clearly articulated voices in
concert. We had a room full of voices and
voice specialists at the inaugural World Voice
Day celebrations at ACU in Fitzroy, Melbourne.
Associate Professor Jenni Oates from La Trobe
University was the mastermind and energiser
who initiated the event in bringing together
speech pathology students from the three
Universities in Melbourne and leading experts in
the field of voice. If the aim was to inspire, the
goal was well and truly met.
On 18 April 2016, two days after World Voice
Day, approximately 80 students from Australian
Catholic University, La Trobe University and
The University of Melbourne, gathered in ACU’s
Cathedral Hall to listen to some of the best
clinicians in Victoria speak about their journey
to a career in voice. The theme of World Voice
Day 2016: ‘Explore your voice. Imagine where
it will take you’ provided the inspiration for the
event, the first time that the three universities
had collaborated. It was a pleasing turnout and
a testament to the general interest that speech
pathology students have in pursuing a career
in voice.
Guest speakers included Associate Professor
Jenni Oates, Alex Giannini, Dr. Gabbie
Constantinescu, Dr. David Azul, Dr. Adam
Vogel, Georgia Dacakis, Kate Watson, Regina
Fitzpatrick and Professor Paul Carding.
Speakers Sarah Lobegeiger de Rodriguez,
Nicole Free and Lillian Krikheli delighted us
with a hilarious, albeit accurate, portrayal of the
nervous excitement that a student endures on
the first day of voice placement (complete with
expertly interwoven voice therapy technique
references). ACU student Jessie Hilder also
impressed with a stunning performance of
singing and acoustic guitar.
Student clinician Farhin Chowdhury (La Trobe)
discussed her placement at the La Trobe
Speech Pathology clinic, which opened her
eyes to the area of transgender voice and the
difference this can make to the lives of clients.
Farhin encouraged other students to explore
voice in their studies and clinical placements.
Gali Elishav and Tammie Tun (ACU) spoke
about their current clinical placement at the
recently opened ACU Adult Communication
Clinic. This clinic provides services across all
areas of adult communication with a focus
predominantly on voice and the placement
has included opportunities to assess and
treat clients and provide voice care education
sessions.
The presentation of the Australian Voice
Association (AVA) Student Encouragement
Award to PhD candidate Katie Buckley
concluded the evening’s formalities and
prompted an opportunity for informal
networking between the clinicians and
students.
The success of this event has set an excellent
precedent for future collaborations between
the three universities. Students were given the
opportunity to meet their future colleagues from
different institutions and were inspired by the
stories of world renowned voice specialists.
Special thanks goes to organisers Associate
Professor Jenni Oates (La Trobe University), Dr
Gabriella Constantinescu (ACU) and Dr Adam
Vogel (The University of Melbourne) as well as
the student organisers and co-hosts: Gabby
Moloney, Rachael Harney, Merrin Torpy and
Stephen Wainrib.
Stephen Wainrib (La Trobe student), Gabby
Moloney (ACU student), Rachael Harney (ACU
student) and Merrin Torpy (The University of
Melbourne student)