Yap Sesh #3: Our Performance History

Anna: Welcome to Yap Sesh with VoiceProEd. We're your hosts—I'm Anna Diemer.

Maurice: And I’m Maurice Goodwin.

Anna: And we made a big announcement this week for VoiceProEd.

Maurice: Huge announcement.

Anna: Maurice, do you want to tell us about it?

Maurice: We have been working to bring Achieving Competence as a Speech Pathologist Working with Singers to you as an asynchronous course. This was one of the first courses we created when we were preparing to become a CE provider with ASHA. We originally ran it last February.

Anna: Yeah, it was February.

Maurice: And this course was developed in response to so many learners saying, I actually don’t know where to start. It’s a big topic. There are a lot of things to consider, but is there a structured way for someone new to this work—especially someone without a singing background or a singing voice specialist as a mentor—to dive in?

Anna: Yeah! We kept getting questions like, How am I supposed to know what a soprano or a tenor sounds like? What do all these musical terms mean? How do I even get started doing this work? That’s why I love the voice part section of the course—it’s my personal favorite because I get to yap about all the different types of voices. What’s your favorite part?

Maurice: I think my favorite part—aside from yours, of course—

Anna: Oh, it’s your time.

Maurice: I mean, I’m a speech pathologist, so I know that part of the work. But when it comes to applying that knowledge to working with singers, it’s about making all of this information digestible. There’s nothing proprietary about talking about the voice, but it’s a huge amount of information. Our learners are incredibly smart, capable, and competent, so our goal was to package the material in a way that makes it easier to absorb.

We got a ton of great feedback when we first ran this course, and this asynchronous version is a reflection of both our original intent and the input we received. We tailored it to the needs of the people who learned with us before.

Anna: So let us know if you like asynchronous courses and if you’d like to see more of them! This is a big experiment for us. Up until now, we’ve only done live courses, and I think we’ve mentioned on the podcast how much we love getting to interact with people in real time—taking questions, having discussions.

This course is different because it’s designed to make the information even more accessible. If you want to check it out, it’s available now on voiceproed.com. You can earn 0.2 ASHA CEUs for this two-hour course, and you can complete it at your own pace—no need to mark your calendar or wait for a live session. It’s ready whenever you are.

Anna: We hope you enjoy it! Let us know what you think. We basically did a surprise album drop with this one, which I loved—just being like, Surprise! We did a thing! So yeah, go check it out!

Maurice: Yeah, it's been cool. Launching an asynchronous course also means experimenting with a new platform, and we've really been enjoying using ESMERIES. It’s similar to some other learning platforms, but simple in a way that really works for us. We’re hoping it gets a great response from y’all because we think it’s super easy to use, great for learning on the go, and—bonus—you can watch the course at faster speeds, which I personally love.

Anna: I watched the whole thing at 2X speed to proof it, and yeah, there’s something special about hearing your own—

Maurice: Voice at 2X speed. Giving chipmunk realness.

Anna: For sure! So today, I wanted to talk about something a little different—maybe a bit outside our usual topics—and pivot toward some of the things that got us here.

I’m biased right now because I’m preparing for a show next week at the Asheville Fringe Festival. I’ll be performing my one-person cabaret show, Man, A Dragcital. It’s a collection of arias, musical theater, and cabaret songs traditionally written for male-identifying characters that I’ve transposed and reimagined in a cheeky cabaret format.

I’ve been thinking a lot about performing and how this part of my career—actually doing the thing with my voice—relates to helping my clients do their thing with their voices. So, I thought we could talk about singing. Does that sound good?

Maurice: Talking about singing sounds great! And for anyone who doesn’t know, there is never a time when Anna isn’t actively performing. It’s kind of incredible.

You and I got into Voice Pro Ed because we were both voice clinicians and voice technicians—vocal performers who were fascinated by how those two things interact. Since we started working together, I’ve stepped back from performing, while you’ve completely doubled down on it, which is impressive.

Anna: That’s been a goal of mine. I don’t make a ton of New Year’s resolutions, but for the past few years, “perform more” has been on the list. Or at least, keep performing at the same level, because, whew—we are tired.

So, I’m glad that’s showing outwardly. I’m definitely feeling good about it. Thank you.

Maurice: Yeah, and I think your work continues to be inspired by your life. It’s almost like an evolution—each stage of your performing career reflects different aspects of yourself or the ways you want to engage with the world.

Let’s talk about that. How did you get started performing? What were your early performance experiences?

Anna: Oh my gosh. I have this memory of pacing around the kitchen table while running lines for the Christmas play at my church. Like a lot of folks raised in the church—especially in the American South—I got my start singing there.

I don’t even remember what my role was, but I think I was the narrator? I was maybe 9 or 10, memorizing lines, and looking back now, I’m honestly impressed with my baby self.

I did a lot of choir—children’s choirs—and my first real performance memory is actually so ridiculous, but also… extremely on brand for who I am now.

In 7th grade, I did the talent show at my middle school. And the song I chose? Hey Ladies, if your man wanna get buck wild… Yeah, Hit ’Em Up Style.

Maurice: Not Hit ’Em Up Style!

Anna: Oh my God. And my mom even called Neiman Marcus to ask—

Maurice: I don’t know where this story is going, but these last 20 seconds…

Anna: So, the song—

Anna: Mentions that she’s going to go to Neiman Marcus and spend all this money. I didn’t even know what Neiman Marcus was, right?

Speaker 3: And the shopping spree! Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Anna: So my mom called Neiman Marcus and got them to send us some shopping bags. So, little 12-year-old me was on stage, swinging these Neiman Marcus bags around.

Speaker 3: That is so funny.

Anna: How do I top that? Just thinking about that song… I got it stuck in my head now.

Maurice: Oops, there goes the dreams we used to know…

Anna: Like, how did they let me do that?

Maurice: Blu, Blu… Blu Cantrell? Is that her name? Pretty sure—

Anna: Something like that. Yeah, I haven’t thought about that song in years.

Maurice: Yeah. We can’t throw that one away! Come on. Such a fun story.

Anna: I mean, on one hand, I had the church singing. And on the other, I had this karaoke phase—my parents would be at the bar, drinking their beer, and I’d be putting in as many karaoke songs as I could because I just loved getting the opportunity to sing.

Maurice: Yeah, yeah. You’ve always been a performer—it’s more than just singing or the voice itself. It’s the whole performance. And honestly, I don’t even think you’ve hit your maximalist stage yet. You’re still going!

Anna: Even as a drag king, I’m still not at my maximalist stage?

Maurice: Nope, not yet.

Anna: Wow. What about you? How’d you get your start?

Maurice: Yeah, I grew up in a very musical family. My mother—have I mentioned this before?—is probably the best singer I’ve ever known. I was always inspired by her ability, and so I I always grew up around really great singers—my sisters are both singers as well. We were kind of forced to sing together. I liked singing, but I hated performing.

I had a lot of anxiety as a kid, so I was really focused on being a good technical singer, but I didn’t enjoy the performance aspect at all. I still remember the very first time I sang in front of an audience—our family went to a large church, and my mom, my two sisters, and I were singing in front of the congregation. I opened my mouth to sing and just cried—turned into my mom and sobbed.

But our church also put on these huge Christmas and Easter productions, and I was always involved in those until I got to junior high and high school. That’s when I started realizing, Oh, I can actually do this at a semi-professional level. And I enjoyed it. I’ve probably said this since that time: I loved the people aspect of being a singer. I loved singing with other people, making music with other people—that’s what kept me doing it for as long as I did.

Anna: That’s huge. I work with a lot of clients who are community choir members.

Anna: I worked for the Houston Symphony, and I’ve been in choirs all my life. There’s just something special about making music with other people.

Maurice: Yeah. Are there any big, memorable performances that stand out to you—like, Oh yeah, that was a cool moment? Or are you currently experiencing any of those now?

Anna: Choir is definitely still on my mind. One of the coolest performances I’ve ever done was when we took a chamber choir from the Houston Symphony Chorus on tour to Poland.

We had these big concerts in grand cathedrals, performing Messiah with soloists—it was a great experience, a really strong technical and musical challenge. But then, we had a separate program featuring American choral music, and we performed in this tiny church in the middle of nowhere. We were on a tour bus, driving through rolling green fields, passing Polish sheep, and it felt like every single person in that town came out for the performance.

We opened the program with In the Beginning by Aaron Copland, and I had a solo at the start. Standing in that packed room, feeling the energy from the audience, and creating that shared experience—it was just unforgettable. Even though many of the people there didn’t speak English and couldn’t express their appreciation verbally, you could feel how much it meant to them. That moment stands out as one of the best performing experiences of my life.

Speaker: Hmm.

Maurice: Yeah, that’s amazing. When I think of my own moments like that, I don’t always think of the biggest performances or the ones that got the most attention.

That said, I did have some unique experiences performing in church. And now, looking back, it’s kind of strange—I grew up in a pretty fundamentalist Pentecostal evangelical environment, which, as an adult, doesn’t align with who I am now. But some of my favorite performance memories are tied to that part of my life.

Those moments were such a huge part of my childhood and upbringing. It was through music and performance that I first felt like I could be something. So much of my ability to produce quality work now comes from believing that I can create something really cool. And I think that mindset started back then. From my late teens into my twenties, those experiences really changed my life.

Music was how I first realized that I could do something that mattered—that I could create something meaningful, collaborate with others, and produce something worth sharing. And once I learned that through music, I started applying that belief to everything else I did.

If I had to pick one performance that really stands out, it would probably be right after I finished undergrad. I had this vocal performance degree, but I had no idea what I was doing with it.

I auditioned for Pittsburgh Opera as a chorus member because I was moving to Pittsburgh for speech pathology school. The audition went terribly—like, really bad. And they basically told me, Yeah, this probably isn’t your year.

Three months later, I got a call back: Hey, we actually want you to join us for this one show, Otello. And I was like, I’ll do that.

There was something about opening night with Pittsburgh Opera—it was a union job, which made it feel legit, like all the work I had put into my voice, into my degree, into my training was actually real.

That experience made me feel like, Oh, this thing I worked so hard for? It actually means something. And it carried me forward into performing with Madison Opera, Houston Grand Opera, and beyond.

Anna: Yeah, that really shows you that the work was worth it, right? It’s this magical moment of, Oh wow, I’m actually doing the thing I spent years training for.

Maurice: My loans said I could do this thing, and here I am—doing it.

Anna: Oh no. Not the loans!

Anna: I think about that all the time now, especially when performing in drag. It’s so different from opera in some ways, but opera itself already has its own forms of gender subversion, right? And now, there are performers like Monét X Change and Sapphira Cristal—mainstream queens who are incorporating opera into drag.

For me, watching them—seeing people with actual vocal performance degrees take their craft into drag—it’s validating. When I’m on stage doing the same thing, I think, Oh yeah, this is how I’m using my degrees. Also, like, look at me now! My fancy pieces of paper paid off!

But really, I think this connects back to what you mentioned about me loving performing—because I really, truly do.

I still remember the first time I sang Largo al factotum in a bar packed with people. It was a usual venue for me, The Odd in Asheville. The crowd lost their minds—they didn’t expect to hear live opera at a drag show, especially in a smaller city like Asheville.

And at the end, I got a standing ovation—like, people literally leapt to their feet. That had never happened to me before. I had interpolated a high C at the end, and the reaction was like, Oh my God, high note, my brain is exploding! It was just—amazing. I took so many bows. That feeling of deep connection with the audience, where I’m like, Look what I am giving you. Please receive this! And the audience is just like, YES. Give me more! That energy exchange absolutely feeds me as a performer.

Maurice: Do you ever mix things up in your performances? Like, I’ve seen pictures and some videos of you performing, but do you ever blend in modern pop music or throwbacks with live singing?

Anna: So, for this particular show, I’m not doing any current pop. Usually, I like to mix it up—I’ll do one number where I sing live, and then another where I lip-sync something more modern.

Maurice: Yeah.

Anna: This show has a lot of musical theater in it. The most modern song is probably Man from The Full Monty, which is also the title of the show. But I’m definitely not opposed to incorporating pop into my sets—there are so many drag-friendly pop songs out there.

And I mean, I’ve also dabbled in writing my own music. Nothing major yet, but it’s starting to come out more in a country/folk direction, which makes sense given where I grew up and my musical background. The first concert I ever went to was Garth Brooks when I was nine years old.

Maurice: Obsessed.

Anna: Right?! But yeah, I’m definitely not opposed to creating in that way.

Maurice: I love that. I love that. Let’s talk about the first time we performed together.

At that point, you were my voice instructor, and we had already started working together—thinking about ways we could collaborate as a speech pathologist and a voice teacher. And then, somehow, I found myself recruited by you to sing with Opera on Tap.

Anna: Yeah! So, during my last few years in Houston, I was one of the admins for the Opera on Tap chapter there. That chapter has since moved on to other adventures.

And now that I think about it… I think that might be the only time we’ve ever shared a stage. Did we even do a duet? I don’t remember!

Maurice: Yes, we did.

Anna: What did we sing?

Maurice: It takes trust…

Anna: Ohhh!

Maurice: How does that song start?

Anna: It Takes Two from Into the Woods!

Maurice: Yes! That’s the one.

Anna: That’s so funny. I do remember you singing You’ll Be Back from Hamilton—because I specifically remember working on it in your voice lessons.

Maurice: I remember that too!

Anna: And I also remember you being like, Oh my gosh, I can’t believe you roped me into this, Anna. But I totally forgot we did that adorable duet!

Maurice: Yep, and to this day, it’s interesting—I feel so confident talking in front of people and presenting. When it comes to being a speech pathologist, I’m always ready to throw my hat into the ring.

But with singing and performing? I’m that person who sits in the car before a show thinking, What if I just kept driving? What if I just never showed up?

That’s why Opera on Tap was so nice—it was low stakes. We were performing in a bar, which was literally the whole point of the event. And, I’ll be honest, I would always have a drink or two beforehand to lubricate my mind.

Anna: It’s so interesting how we’re opposites in that way.

Performing feels totally natural to me—way more accessible to my brain, my body, and my nervous system. But public speaking? That’s a different story.

I mean, I’ve hosted Opera on Tap before—give me a microphone, and I will yap. But when it comes to the more educational and academic aspects of speaking, that’s where I feel less comfortable.

Especially in my client work, my goal is to say as little as possible—to be super economical with my words. So, doing things like recording Achieving Competence—where I’m just talking to my phone for minutes at a time—feels way more intimidating.

Maurice: Mmm.

Anna: Even teaching live courses over Zoom can give me performance anxiety. Because with performing, sure, there are unscripted moments—interacting with the audience, responding to their energy—but everything else is prepared. I know exactly how to get ready for a performance.

Like, just the other day, I did a full run-through of my show for a few friends on Zoom. I stopped between sections, noted where I slipped up, and made a plan to brush up on those spots before the next run.

But when I have to speak extemporaneously? That’s what really gives me the nerves.

Maurice: We need a Vocology the Musical, a VoiceProEd: The Musical.

Anna: That’ll be our next podcast episode—us coming up with song titles and numbers.

Maurice: Oh my gosh. When we start having guests, that’s going to be a question we ask them: In "VoiceProEd: The Musical," what would the style of your song be, and what would your role be?

Anna: And what would be the title of your big solo number?

Maurice: Like, Today I Am Left Arytenoid Cartilage. I’m giving Hyperfunction Mama, you know?

Anna: Oh no. No, no, no.

Anna: I was thinking more along the lines of practitioners—as clinicians—but this is…

Maurice: Oh no, no.

Anna: No, this is definitely happening.

Maurice: I think we could go micro and macro, you know?

Anna: We could structure it like Act One is the intrinsic muscles of the voice…

Anna: We’ve spoken this into existence now.

Maurice: We have.

Speaker: We have.

Maurice: And honestly, that’s true of almost everything we’ve done. If anyone listening doesn’t know us personally yet, Anna and I run on pure audacity. Nothing fuels us more than saying, What if we did this thing? OK, let’s do it! And then we just figure it out as we go.

Anna: That’s literally why we have a podcast.

Maurice: That’s why you’re listening right now! Exactly.

Anna: Yes—enjoying our dulcet tones at this very moment.

Maurice: There might be too much laughing. Sorry about that.

Anna: There is never too much laughing. We can bring joy, too, right? Sometimes our work is so serious—and for good reason. We’re holding space for people who are struggling with their voices, often in really tough situations.

But the more we can also spark joy—like Marie Kondo—the better. I will never say no to more laughter.

Maurice: We will never say no to more joy and laughter.

Anna: I love that. And I think that’s a great place to wrap up.

So, if you happen to be in Asheville this week, I’m performing at LEAF Global Arts on Friday, March 21st, at 9:00 PM and Sunday, March 23rd, at 6:00 PM. It’s a double feature with some poets who are doing spoken word and Dadaist poetry. I haven’t met them yet, but I’m very excited to see what they do.

And then, for the rest of the time, it’s me—the drag act!

Maurice: Man! The Dragcital!

Anna: Yes! And it has an exclamation point, so we must make sure that’s in the transcript.

Maurice: Congratulations! I hope all your prep goes well and that your performance is—

Anna: Full of joy.

Maurice: Full of joy.

Anna: It will be.

If you’re looking for more learning opportunities, we still have a little time left in March! You can watch the Bridging the Gap replay through March 31st. If you want to dive deeper into glottic insufficiency, especially as a more advanced clinician, this course is for you. It’s all about case studies, intervention strategies, and the nitty-gritty details of voice therapy at a high level.

And if you’re a student or a new clinician, check out our newest asynchronous course: Achieving Competence as an SLP Working with Singers.

Both courses are available now at voiceproed.com/courses.

Maurice: Perfect! I look forward to seeing you all there.

The next time you hear from us, we’ll have more updates—what’s coming in April, maybe even a little bit of May. Voice Pro Ed is continuing to grow and evolve to meet the needs of the clinicians we serve, and we’re so excited about what’s coming next.

And at some point, Anna and I will rest.

Anna: At some point, we will rest.

Maurice: That point… is not today.

Anna: Not today. And if you have ideas for future podcast topics or courses, let us know! We’re ramping up, trying new things, and we want to meet the needs of our community.

Tell us what you want to learn, and we’ll see what VoiceProEd can deliver.

Maurice: Bye!

Outro: You’ve been listening to Yap Sesh with VoiceProEd, with your hosts, Anna Diemer and Maurice Goodwin. The information shared in this podcast is for educational and entertainment purposes only and should not be considered medical or clinical advice. If you’re experiencing voice or communication concerns, please consult a licensed professional.