Taking a deeper look at the Sound Voice Project with Dr. Thomas Moors

Language. Voice. And identity.

With the Sound Voice Project, we wanted to explore the impact that our voices have on our identities. We found that even professional voice users don’t have the vocabulary to describe their own voices, which was striking because it is so intertwined with our identity and who we are.

Language has provided a catalyst for growth for humanity. Our development as humankind as a whole is largely founded in the ability to communicate with each other effectively, using our voices to express ourselves.

We set up Sound Voice using different voice technologies and worked with people that are affected by more than nine types of diseases, including Parkinson’s and Laryngectomy. Each with different ways of affecting the voice: A sudden change with laryngectomy and more of a slow process for those with Parkinson’s or motor neurone disease (MND). How the people describe what they find important in the voice is different between those groups and, not surprisingly, linked to how their voice is affected by their disease.

A digital installation project with an innovative approach.

What sets the Sound Voice Project apart from other digital opera installations is the quality of the people and artists that are on board because of the intriguing philosophical question about the voice and how it’s intertwined with our identity. The fragility of that identity is being transformed into a type of superpower when it is coupled with the compelling and moving storytelling of the project.

The project is led by Hannah Conway, an opera composer, in collaboration video designer Luke Halls, sound designer David Sheppard and librettist Hazel Gould. When we set out, we asked ourselves how could we integrate people from a variety of different backgrounds, including researchers with a background in technology and voice, people that are living through this and their friends and family.

We put all of those people in the same room together, interacting in a creative way, exploring the themes around voice and identity, and the effects that they have on our lives. Those explorations were then translated into a libretto, or lyrics, which was then put to music and transformed into the audio video installation experience which is now touring. We’re going to different hospitals around the United Kingdom, exploring different voices.

The voice is so intertwined with identity and there are countless identities out there that we can leverage in the installation. Exploring different identities and people to continue to grow and develop. There are people from all walks of life who struggle with their voice in different ways. This can be discrimination, racism, or simply not having a voice in our society.

Challenges of the project.

The project was started in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, and looking back, it is a wonder that the project ever got off the ground. We had to change the activities into online versions. We were lucky that the groups were so patient and understanding.

We we're very privileged to see it formed by world class artists who are not just engaging with this, but who are giving voices to the voices and to the stories. That recognition alone is something that has a very inspirational effect on the laryngectomy community.