A unique opera experience that explores voice loss and identity has been produced by scientists at the UCL Ear Institute in collaboration with the Royal Opera House.
Led by Professor Martin Birchall, a specialist in voice disorders, and his Robovox team the project aims to explore the intrinsic value of the human voice, what a voice is and what happens when a voice is gone.
Their work focuses on soft robotics to restore the function of voice, breathing and swallowing. And their project, funded by Wellcome, is to produce an implant to record muscle responses to control an artificial larynx (for laryngectomy patients).
During the new 25-minute Sound Voice Project installation, which will run from 14th to 20th November at the Linbury Theatre in central London, performers living with voice loss will tell their stories.
The uplifting and emotional piece of digital work will involve opera singers and cutting-edge digitally created voices, and will combine music, documentary and immersive sound design to explore the idea of what opera can be.
In their description of the show, the Royal Opera House describe the installation as a "radically different kind of opera experience".
Professor Birchall said: "This project came about as a result of a collaboration between my Wellcome-funded robotics project and a group of composers and artists.
"Following work with a group of patients who had lost their voice for one reason or another they produced a staggering piece of art, which is both a performance and an installation."
The Sound Voice Project is a cross-disciplinary collaboration spanning healthcare, opera, music therapy, UCL speech therapy and UCL music research via the medium of artistic residencies involving music composition, creative writing and vocal performance and experimentation.
It hopes to build on the experiences and narratives of both those who have experienced loss of laryngeal function and the healthcare professionals who dedicate their careers to finding answers.
The project is led by Hannah Conway, who is a composer, presenter and music director. Professor Birchall describes her work on Sound Voice as "inspirational".
Speaking about the Sound Voice Project, Ms Conway said: "When I first met Martin and his team, they were unsure of how arts-based activities could help them better understand the needs of their client group for whom they sought to develop ground-breaking new solutions and technology.
"I am grateful in particular for Martin's trust and continued enthusiasm and honest reflections throughout the project."
Professor Birchall and the Robovox team are now doing further work with Sound Voice on dysphagia (difficulties in eating) and the challenges of making robots work with humans.
To find out more and to book tickets for The Sound Voice Project please click here.
