Speak Up to Sing Out

“To the girls, to the women, to the mothers, to the daughters who hear the music bubbling within, please speak up. We need to hear your voices.”

These words were the backbone of composer Hildur Guðnadóttir’s acceptance speech at the 2020 Oscars—she being the fourth woman ever to win an Oscar for Best Film Score and the first since 1997.

The clarity and courage behind this intention was likely hard fought. Forged out of no longer being able to bear the weight and consequence of not speaking up.

The next morning, I woke up to several social media posts from female colleagues quoting Guðnadóttir. Her words resonate with anyone who has allowed­­­ themselves to go unheard. This experience may not be unique to women, but it is certainly prolific among us.

Perhaps it’s no coincidence that a trending fear among my female voice students is that their singing is “too loud.” It’s worth mentioning, without judgement, that I cannot think of a recent example of a male student expressing the same concern. If anything, many of my male students come to lessons seeking increased confidence, power, and volume. At the risk of oversimplifying, a loud and booming vocal presence is unapologetically their goal.

As singers, we are wind instruments––breath in motion allows our voice to connect and resound. We cultivate our breath technique to yield a balanced and beautiful tone. But not without first understanding that breath should move freely and without apprehension. The reward of optimal breath coordination is a voice that rings out. That is heard. Fully.

When we fear that our voice will be “too loud” we counter-engineer. Our body tightens in anticipation of judgement. Our jaw clenches. The pliable reflexes in our ribcage and abdominal muscles brace. Expansion is limited by constriction. Our agency is not lost, but we wield it to censor ourselves. Breath inertia stagnates. Resonance and projection are dampened. We’ve succeeded in keeping the “music bubbling within” bottled up.

If singing is a microcosm of life (and I believe that it is) perhaps we can free our singing through the practice of being “loud” in all areas of our life. Every time we share our truth, set a boundary, or ask for what we need we teach our throat, heart, and mind to be open and resilient. So please speak up to sing out. “We need to hear your voices.”