The Art and Science of Great Teaching: Celebrating the Legacy of William Vennard

“Philharmonic, Chorale to Give B Minor Mass”
Los Angeles Times, December 15, 1958
L-R: Roger Wagner, Eva Gustavson, Richard Robinson, Charmion Ward, William Vennard

(b Normal, IL, Jan 31, 1909; d Los Angeles, Jan 10, 1971). American singer and voice science researcher. He studied English at Taylor University, Upland, IN (AB 1930) and music at Northwestern University, Evanston, IL (BM 1941) and at the American Conservatory, Chicago (MM 1943). After teaching at the Chicago Evangelistic Institute, DePaul University and the American Conservatory, he became a member of the faculty of music at the University of Southern California (1946), chairing its voice department (1950–71). Among the associations to which he belonged are the National Association of Teachers of Singing, which he served in several capacities, including national president. He was awarded an honorary doctorate from Pepperdine University College, Malibu, CA in recognition of his outstanding contributions to singing and the science of singing (1970).

As a singer, Vennard was active in opera, oratorio and solo song; as a teacher of singing, his students, among them Marilyn Horne, achieved worldwide success. His renowned text, Singing, the Mechanism and the Technique, is a constant resource for teachers and researchers alike. Vennard’s collaboration with Janwillen van den Berg resulted in his film Voice Production: the Vibrating Larynx. Winning several awards, including best medical research film from a festival in Prague in 1960, it shows the anatomy and physiology of voice production in the excised larynx. He was a pioneer in the science of singing and in voice pedagogy and was instrumental in fostering collaborative efforts between singers, physicists, psychologists and voice scientists.

Cleveland, Tom. "Vennard, William." Grove Music Online. https://doi.org/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.46590

• "Singing with an Open Throat." California Teachers Association paper, July 1950. [Part of In Memoriam]
• "How to Sing High Tones." Music of the West, August 1953. [Part of In Memoriam]
• “More Than Teaching.” American Music Teacher 3/2 (1953): 6-20.
• "The Pupil Teacher Relationship." Music of the West, April 1957. [Part of In Memoriam]
• “Philosophies of Voice Pedagogy.” American Music Teacher 7/5 (1958): 4-25.
• “Music Educators’ Round Table, Conducted by Jack M. Watson; Contributors: D. Ralph Appelman, William Vennard, Carol F. Westerman.” Music Journal 17/3 (1959): 44.
• [with Janwillem van den Berg] "Toward an Objective Vocabulary for Voice Pedagogy." Bulletin of the National Association of Teachers of Speech 15 (1959): 10-15.
• "Tricks of the Trade." Music of the West, July 1959. [Part of In Memoriam]
• "Singers and Science." Music Clubs Magazine, Winter 1961-1962. [Part of In Memoriam]
• “Building Correct Singing Habits.” Voice and Speech Disorders, ed. N.M. Levin (Springfield, 1962), 498-532.
• “Letters to the Editor.” NATS Bulletin 19/1 (1962): 5-6.
• “An Experiment to Evaluate the Importance of Nasal Resonance in Singing.” Folia Phoniatrica 16 (1964), 146-53.
• “The Psychology of the Pupil-Teacher Relationship.” American Music Teacher 13/5 (1964): 8-27.
• "Let's Sing." National Student Musician, 1965.
• [with M. LeCover and H.J. Rubin] “Vocal Intensity, Subglottic Pressure and Air Flow Relationships in Singers.” Folia Phoniatrica 19 (1967), 393-413.
• Singing: The Mechanism and the Technic. 5th ed. New York: C. Fischer, 1968.
• [with M. Hirano and J. Ohala] “The Function of Laryngeal Muscles in Regulating Fundamental Frequency and Intensity of Phonation.” Journal of Speech and Hearing Research 12 (1969), 616-628.
• “Regulation of Register, Pitch and Intensity of Voice: An Electromyographic Investigation of Intrinsic Laryngeal Muscles.” Folia Phoniatrica 22 (1970), 1-20.
• [with M. Hirano and J. Ohala] “Laryngeal Synergy in Singing.” NATS Bulletin 27/1 (1970): 16-21.
• [with M. Hirano and J. Ohala] “Chest, Head, and Falsetto.” NATS Bulletin 27/2 (1970): 30-37.
• [with M. Hirano] “Varieties of Voice Production.” NATS Bulletin 27/3 (1971): 26-32.
• [with M. Hirano and B. Fritzell] “The Extrinsic Laryngeal Muscles.” NATS Bulletin 27/4 (1971): 22-30.
• “Singers and Their Emotions.” American Music Teacher 20/5 (1971): 24.
• "Word Magic of Singers." Unpublished. [Part of In Memoriam]
• "Common Rhythmic Problems in Singing." [Part of In Memoriam]

• "Vennard to Give Concert." Los Angeles Times. December 8, 1946.
• "SC Man Gets Bid to Paris." Los Angeles Times. October 6, 1957.
• Arlen, Walter. "Vennard Demonstrates Artistry and Taste." Los Angeles Times. November 11, 1958.
• "Laryngeal Singing Function Studied in New Sound Film" Music of The West. October, 1960.
• Goldberg, Albert. "Things that a Critic Finds while Cleaning Up His Desk." Los Angeles Times. September 02, 1962.
• -----. "Season's Opera Critics in Good Voice." Los Angeles Times. December 8, 1963.
• Mayer, Martin. "Marilyn Horne Becomes a Prima Donna." New York Times. January 17, 1971.
• "Memorial Service Set for Vennard." Los Angeles Times. January 20, 1971.
• Trump, Karl. "In Memoriam: William D. Vennard." NATS Bulletin, February/March 1971.

Selected dissertations about/including Vennard -- a search for his name on ProQuest Dissertations & Theses currently returns over 240 results

• Coleman, Cynthia. A Study of Methods Used by Exemplary College Voice Teachers in Teaching Improved Vocal Resonance. DMA dissertation. The Ohio State University, 1989.
• Chia, Wei-Khuan. A Content Analysis of Articles on Vocal Pedagogy in the Magazine of the National Association of Teachers of Singing, 1944-1992. DMA dissertation, 1993.
• Bottoms, James Farland. Investigation of William Vennard's Light Mechanism Principle in the Adolescent Female Voice. PhD diss. University of Colorado at Boulder, 1995.
• Kim, Jisuk. A Study of Breath Management as Treated by Four Major American Vocal Pedagogues: Appelman, Reid, Vennard, and Miller. MA thesis. University of North Texas, 2005.
• Stark, Nathan. An Interview with Marilyn Horne: Advice for Young Singers. MM project. CSU Long Beach, 2007.
• Velarde, Rachel. Vocal Pedagogy at the End of the Twentieth Century: Revealing the Hidden Instrument. DMA diss. Arizona State University, 2013.

See also: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Vennard