EDUCATION: Speaking Voice & Dialects

Gin Hammond (646) 283-8033
Gin holds an MFA in acting from The American Repertory Theatre Institute , for Advanced Theatre Training at Harvard University/Moscow Art Theatre, where  Catherine Fitzmaurice taught voice.  Her performance credits include, The Guthrie and  The Arena Stage, several regional theatres and the Moscow Art Theatre and the Roadside Theatre, in Heidelberg, Germany.

In Seattle Gin has worked as a voice and dialect coach for Book-It, Stone Soup, Annex, Capitol Hill Arts Center.  In addition, she has worked with former Seattle Rep Artistic Director, Sharon Ott at  Horizon Theatre in Atlanta, as well as Kansas City Rep.  Ms. Hammond teaches voice at Freehold and Northwest Actor’s Studio.  Ms. Hammond  was certified  as an associate teacher of Fitzmaurice Voicework in 2006.
Website Ginhammond.com  

Michael J. Loggins (206) 819-2476
A graduate of London’s Academy of Music and Drama, Michael J. Loggins has taught dialects and voice for over 25 years.  ( see acting coaches)

Adrienne MacIain (425)-313-8937
Ms. MacIain holds a Ph.D in Dramatic Arts from UC Santa Barbara and has a BA in French.  She teaches voice and dialects at Northwest Actor’s Studio and is bilingual French/English. 
Adrienne@umail.ucsb.edu

Ellen Taft, ADVS (206) 323-6983
Voice, speech and dialects teacher, Taft received the Advanced Diploma of Voice Studies from London’s Central School of Speech and Drama (CSSD) a post-graduate training program to train teachers of the speaking voice, dialects, textual analysis, Shakespeare and communication skills.
At CSSD, Taft’s main instructor was David Carey, formerly asst. voice coach of the Royal Shakespeare Company and Sally Grace, former head of voice at Rose Bruford.  Guest workshops were taught by Cicely Berry and Pasty Rodenberg, both of the RSC, as well as Meribeth Bench.  In addition, Taft has taken workshops with Kristen Linklater and Arthur Lessec, and while attending American Conservatory Theatre ( A.C.T.) theatre school studied with an Edith Skinner disciple, Bernard Vasch. Taft studied acting at the Guthrie Theatre in Minneapolis, the University of Minnesota and ACT in San Francisco. Taft sings with the acclaimed St. Thomas singers.  Her specialties are:

  • Shakespeare and the Actor’s Voice.  Taft teaches Saturday workshops periodically during the school year.  Using a very physical approach involving Tai Chi, Yoga and Alexander Technique, Taft bases her work on activating the spontaneous connection between the thought, the breath and the text. She works on breathing, alignment, vocal placement, resonance, articulation and text.   Taft also coaches individuals for Shakespeare auditions. 
  • Dialect Coaching . Taft teaches R.P.( Received Pronunciation-Standard British) the regional accents of the U.K. and the U.S. as well as European accents, as she knows German, French and Spanish. She lived in West Germany for four years. Taft lived in the the UK ( London, Yorkshire and the West Country) for 3 years, is married to an Englishman, and spends every summer in the U.K.      
  • Accent Reduction.  Taft has worked with several British and other foreign actors: Chinese, Japanese, East Indian, Spanish, Russian and Bronx natives, to acquire a more American accent.  Taft has directed in German for the University of Minnesota, she was also the founder and artistic director of Philadelphia’s acclaimed Shakespeare in the Park. With her articulation and accent work, Taft uses both aural techniques as well as specific tongue and vocal  placement instructions.
  • Opera. Taft coaches  singers on phrasing and translation of German texts.
  • Taft teaches IPA ( International Phonetic Alphabet) to actors and singers.

Her motto is “ I can coach anyone into a better performance through breathing and freeing the voice.”

Kate Wisniewski (206) 297-1042
Kate Wisniewski is an actor, instructor, and private coach. She holds an MFA from the American Repertory Theatre Institute for Advanced Theatre Training at Harvard University.  She is a Certified Associate Teacher of Fitzmaurice Voicework and teaches at Freehold and at Seattle University.  ( see Shakespeare)

Orla McGovern
A Native of southern Ireland, Ms. McGovern, an actor, polishes Irish and British accents
e-mail: findyourlight@yahoo.com


Relevant Websites:

www.Kiristinlinklater.com  ( Kristin Linklater has been a voice teacher and training for over 40 years.  Her site contains a list of certified Linklater voice teachers )

www.VASTA.org (website of Voice and Speech Teachers Association.  The Professional organization for voice teachers in the U.S.)

www. fitzmauricevoice.com  ( the website for Catherine Fitzmaurice and Fitzmaurice voicework)

www.lessecinstitute.com (website of Arthur Lessec training program )


Dialect Materials

www.ku.edu/idea
IDEA: International dialects of English Archive was created in 1997 as a repository of primary source recordings for actors and other artists in the performing arts.  It’s home is the Department of Theatre and Film at the University of Kansas in Lawrence KS, USA.  All recordings in English are of Native speakers

The downtown Public Library has a large selection of recorded books, plays and folk music.  (always good for learning a dialect)

See Tips for Learning a Dialect, by Ellen Taft in The Actor’s Handbook website.