East Tallinn Central Hospital leads introduction of latest scientific achievements in voice

The international voice seminar PEVoC Tutorial Seminar will take place on 21 August in Tallinn and will feature more than 400 participants. Doctors, scientists, representatives of fields using voice as a tool, specialists and experts from all over the world will gather in a virtual space. The seminar is organised by the East Tallinn Central Hospital Centre of Ear, Nose and Throat Diseases in cooperation with the Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre.

The seminar will introduce the latest scientific achievements and medical advancements regarding voice and techniques on working with voice. “PEVoC Tutorial will introduce the latest results of scientific research on how to adapt to the conditions of COVID-19 and carry out speech therapy for those who have been ill and support the recovery of singers,” says East Tallinn Central Hospital Centre of Ear, Nose and Throat Diseases Senior Specialist Dr Kristel Kalling about the event on Saturday. In addition, the seminar will cover new details in the measurement of voice characteristics, how these can be used and how to blend the pitches of choir members into one integral whole. In the field of phonosurgery, participants will hear an overview of the techniques involved in operations to change pitch. A new voice diagnostics app will also be introduced.

The profile of participants varies greatly. These include ear, nose and throat doctors, phoniatricians, speech therapists, physiotherapists, osteopaths, voice massage therapists, voice Pilates coaches, Alexander technique coaches and representatives of other types of therapy, vocal arrangers, singing teachers and singers, actors and drama and stage speech teachers. The seminar will also be attended by representatives of other areas, such as musicologists, vocologists, phoneticians and linguists, cyberneticists, physicians and biologists whose area of expertise is related to the voice and technicians and acousticians who improve and create new tools related to the use of voice.

“Specialists in the area of voice and representatives of various areas of life have gathered for an interdisciplinary conference every two years since 1995 to exchange experience and information to better understand as well as support one another’s work. All this to make sure doctors understand singers, speech therapists understand actors and scientists understand those involved with the practical side,” says Dr Kristel Kalling. This year, the seminar will lead up to the international voice conference also held in Tallinn next year. Hopefully, the conference will take place in person with parallel workshops and roundtables.

East Tallinn Central Hospital Centre of Ear, Nose and Throat Diseases and Dr Kristel Kalling have pioneered the field of voice in Estonia. “Our doctors and laryngoscopy related to speech therapy help our centre stand out. We serve as an example to others,” says Dr Kalling, taking pride in their work to date. She has also been the driving force behind the organisation of annual vocal days to bring together people who use their voice as a tool and specialists and people with an interest in the field to generate a forum for discussion and exchange of knowledge.

Endolaryngeal microsurgery performed in Estonia is on par with the rest of the world. Our specialists use lasers and micro shavers. Our speech therapists use every method available in the world. The founder of Voice Pilates is from Estonia, as are several well-known teachers of the Alexander technique. Musicologists Allan Vurma and Einar Meister are internationally recognised academics whose doctorate degree programmes attract students outside Estonia.

For more information on the PEVoC seminar, visit https://www.pevoc2021.ee/webinar/