Where to Begin… again
So I’m back to writing as Voiceguy. My goal is to post one blog post per week for now. If I manage to do more, then great. But once a week is a start. Think of it a bit like a new year’s resolution.
What’s on the Horizon for Voiceguy?
I am now the Graduate Program Director for the MFA Programs at York University. This keeps me busy with administrative duties, but it can also limit what I’m able to take on with regard to professional work. Here’s what I’ve got planned so far for this year:
- presenting at the VASTA Conference in Washington D.C. on Asian Accents with fellow presenters Marina Tyndall and Erik Singer
- coaching a workshop for Buddies in Bad Times Theatre of a new play by Daniel MacIvor.
- working on my workbook Introducing the IPA, 2012 edition
Eric Armstrong is the voiceguy. Eric is a dialect, voice, speech and text coach based in Toronto, Canada, where he normally teaches full-time at York University’s Dept. of Theatre. Eric has been teaching voice for the actor full-time since 1994, and has taught in Canada and the US, at the University of Windsor, Brandeis University, Roosevelt University, Canada's National Voice Intensive and York University. He has worked for nationally and internationally recognized companies such as Crow’s Theatre, Volcano, SoulPepper, & Canadian Stage in Toronto, and The Court Theatre and Steppenwolf in Chicago. Eric holds a BFA from Concordia University (Montreal) in Theatre Performance, and an MFA from York University (Toronto) in Acting. His mentors were David Smukler (York, Canada’s National Voice Intensive) and Andrew Wade (Royal Shakespeare Company). He has also studied at the Drama Studio, London, and Il Stage Internazzionale di Commedia dell’Arte in Reggio Emilia, Italy. He’s a long time member of the Voice and Speech Trainers Association, where he has served on the board, as a conference planner, photo editor for the Voice and Speech Review, Founding Director of Technology and Internet Services, and has written numerous peer-reviewed articles, essays and reviews for the VASTA Newsletter, the VASTA Voice, and The Voice and Speech Review.