Using online platforms to create community in the voice studio: lessons from the pandemic

Remote teaching has come a long way since the first panicked days back in March 2020. At the beginning of the pandemic many of us were scrambling to figure out how to move voice lessons to a fully remote format. We found ourselves in Zoom classrooms staring at frightened, displaced students. Eventually we learned how to share files and links in the chat, how to draw using the Whiteboard function, and how to say “You’re on mute” approximately 35 times a day without going insane. By the summer we were all settling into the dreaded new normal: our FaceBook feeds were full of posts about SoundJack, Cleanfeed, open-back headphones, and external microphones. The effectiveness of remote voice lessons and the range of available technologies for studio teaching have been discussed elsewhere. This article will not endeavor to offer technical instruction but rather to suggest ways we might use technology to create community for our students, with a particular focus on the voice studio class.Accepted manuscrip

Faculty Recitals

Faculty recital at the UNT College of Music Recital Hall

Faculty Recitals

Recital presented at the UNT College of Music Concert Hall

Duet Program

Faculty and student recital performed at the UNT College of Music Recital Hall

The Role of \u3ci\u3ePyrococcus furiosus\u3c/i\u3e Transcription Factor E in Transcription Iniitiation

All sequenced archaeal genomes encode a general transcription factor, TFE, which is highly conserved and homologous to the alpha subunit of the eukaryotic transcription factor TFIIE. TFE functions to increase promoter opening efficiency during transcription initiation, although the mechanism for this is unclear. The N-terminus of TFE contains a common DNA binding motif, a winged helix. At the tip of this winged helix is a highly conserved region of aromatic amino acids that is close to DNA during initiation. TFE activation can compensate for mutations in another transcription factor, TFB2, which is homologous to TFIIB. P. furiosus encodes two paralogs of the eukaryotic RNA polymerase II transcription factor TFIIB: TFB1 and TFB2. TFB2 lacks a portion of the highly conserved N-terminus, and functions in transcription complexes at a lower efficiency than TFB1. It has been demonstrated that the presence of TFE is able to assist in transcription with TFB2 in vitro bringing its efficiency to almost TFB1 levels. Thus, TFB2 provides a unique opportunity to evaluate the function of the TFE winged helix in transcription. In this study the aromatic patch of the TFE winged helix was mutated to test its role in activation of TFB1 and TFB2-containing transcription complexes, because this aromatic patch is required for full TFE activity especially when NTP concentrations are low

Faculty Recitals

A faculty and guest recital performed at the UNT College of Music Recital Hall

Faculty Recitals

Faculty Recital performed at the UNT College of Music Recital Hall titled, "Vocal Music in Theresienstadt: Art as a Means of Survival

Faculty Recitals

Faculty recital of contemporary American music for voice and piano performed at the UNT College of Music Concert Hal

Faculty Recitals

A faculty and guest artist recital presented at the UNT College of Music Voertman Hall