Music department to host NATS Winter Workshop

For the first time, Hesston College will host the annual winter worship for the Kansas chapter of the National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS), Feb. 19 and 20.

There will be a Friday session for college students, including all Hesston College voice students, and a Saturday session for teachers. For registration information, contact Matt Schloneger at 620-327-8144 or matt.schloneger@hesston.edu.

Ruth Hennessey, director of Hennessey Whole Body Voice, will lead the workshop “Bodywork for Voice, Self-Assessment, Alignment for Singing and Masterclass.”
Hennessey will lead participants in exercises to improve neck release and alignment, breath management and enhanced resonance.

In addition, participants will engage in whole-body techniques created to help improve engagement and alignment necessary in the feet, legs, torso, pelvis and pelvic floor to sustain head and neck release while speaking and singing.

Hennessey earned both bachelor and master degrees in voice from Indiana University (Bloomington). For more than 30 years, her workshops, university teaching and private lessons in her New York City studio have assisted actors, singers and speakers of every style.

This year, her workshops have been featured at the Voice Foundation Symposium, the National Association of Teachers of Singing convention and the Classical Singer convention.

The event is made possible in part by a discretionary grant from the National Association of Teachers of Singing, Inc.