When it comes to music, there are few instruments as powerful, and as flexible, as the human voice.
And much as a music aficionado will go to great lengths to keep their Stradivarius or Gibson Les Paul in perfect working order, vocalists should do the same with their voices, notes Kathryn Whalen.
“One of the biggest things I want to do with my career is develop a real standard of vocal health in the studio,” said Whalen, the new vocal music instructor at Allen Community College. “And not just the physical singing, but the mental aspect as well.”
She compares vocal performers to athletes, who on top of staying in peak physical condition must also deal with the mental aspects in their drive to find day-to-day consistency.
“The same goes for singers,” Whalen said. “Every day you wake up, your body is going to feel a little different, and you might have some days that are very different. My style of teaching is to find your balanced growth. Where can you always start? What can you always do every day? And then build from that. I’m really passionate about the overall health and wellness as it pertains to the singer.”
And, just as an athlete must endure the physical rigors of performing, so do singers.
“A performing professional singer can do as many as eight shows a week, and that causes strain,” she said. “That’s why it’s important to focus on physical health, too.”
WHALEN, 26, comes to Allen from Hays, where she starred as a youth in multiple stage and choral productions at Thomas More Prep High School.
From there, she earned a bachelor’s degree in vocal performance at Fort Hays State University and master’s degree in the same field at the University of Northern Colorado in Greeley.
In between, she taught K-12 vocal music at Thomas More Prep for a year and directed the TMP Pop Singers, the school’s show choir, and led the school’s production of “The Music Man.”
The experiences further built on Whalen’s lifelong love of music, and a greater appreciation of how music can benefit a person’s mind and body.
“I have a passion for all genres of vocal music, all styles of singing,” she said.
She sees another similarity to athletics in a choir.
“If you’re not listening to your partners, then you’re not trying to blend with them,” Whalen said. “It may be a matter of letting somebody else shine, or there may be an instance where you may need to step out a little more to help the group.”
WHALEN figures she learned to sing about as early as she could talk.
Her mother took voice lessons in college. Though she eschewed music as a major or career, her mother was active with church choirs, etc.
