An opportunity to learn basic transgender voice training techniques! These sessions provide a fun and safe space where you can learn to alter the gender of your voice, surrounded by like-minded people, and supported by trained professionals.

In 2026, rather than running the same introductory session repeatedly, each session will cover different skills. We welcome everyone to book for as few or as many sessions as they like, but please be mindful that these sessions are primarily aimed at people who currently cannot access voice therapy via private or NHS pathways.

If you wish to book for the advanced session in August, we recommend booking for at least one other session as well. This will give you the best experience.

 

Topics covered –

March 24: Introduction to Voice Work – we will cover some basics with a focus on understanding how to keep your voice practise safe . We will introduce some exercises for exploration of your voice characteristics.

April 27: Pitch – We will be thinking about what pitch is and work with some exercises to find a comfortable starting place for you to develop your control of pitch.

May 18: Resonance – resonance is a key aspect of how voices are coded for gender. This week will focus on what we mean by resonance and we will explore exercises to develop a ‘lighter’ and a ‘darker’ sounding voice.

June 15: Weight and Volume – How do vocal fold closure and volume contribute to the sound of your voice? This week we will be learning about and practising more aspects of voice.

July 20: Expressiveness – in this session we will return to work with pitch and incorporate the other dimensions of voice to think about how we use movement in the voice to project our identity.

August 24: Bringing It All Together (Advanced) – the final session will be an opportunity to revisit the different aspects of vocal work and will be led by your choices of techniques to focus on and questions you want to ask.

Every session will open with a simple ice-breaker game, to help everyone get to know each other. Then, Speech and Language Therapist, Dr Iona Brown, will lead a section on technical skills for trans voice. Everyone will be shown how to reach the high and low registers of the voice, but it is up to each attendee to choose which of these exercises they want to do.

After a 5-minute break, the second half of the session will be led by theatre practitioner Laurie Owen. Laurie will use some simple theatre games to help everyone have fun using their voices in a new way! The session will finish with a cafe-style exercise where you can get to know the other people from the group a bit better, and find out about upcoming community initiatives for the Nottingham trans community.

If you have any accessibility requirements, or worries, please contact Nottingham Playhouse, so that we can help you have the best experience possible.

 

Feeling unsure if you should attend?

We welcome anyone who finds the description of this workshop interesting! You may or may not fit in, or around the following identities: Trans, nonbinary, intersex, questioning, gender-non-conforming, drag artist, CD/TV, gender-weird, gender-confused, gender-curious, etc, etc! We also welcome people who are not out, or who present differently depending on context. There are plenty of sessions to go around, and no need to worry about being ‘trans enough’.

 

This session is a partnership between Nottingham Playhouse, Notts Trans Hub, and De Montfort University, and is kindly funded by The Spencer Trust.

Practitioners

“I’m a very late-developing trans feminine person who also happens to be a Speech and Language therapist. I have worked with adult clients in various places around the UK and New Zealand. Now, I lecture in Speech and Language Therapy at De Montfort University. I’m glad to have this opportunity to share my knowledge and skills in voice care and training with you, and I look forward to meeting everyone.”

“I’m a trans male theatre professional, born and based in Nottingham. I’m passionate about creating theatre opportunities for the trans community, and creating performance work that celebrates connections between the audience and artists. Last year’s sessions were so much fun, and I’m excited to continue exploring the radical beauty of the trans voice.”