About A History of the Voice (Self-Care II)
What is a voice? What does it sound like? What do we expect from it? What can it do for us? How can a person still talk after their larynx was removed? Why do people from Leeds sing with an American accent on the British version of the television talent show X Factor? Why are question and answer important? Why did the BBC distort the voices of the IRA on television? Why this need for everyone to shout "PARTY"?

What is the essence of Tony Robbins' voice? Or that of Wings? Why not align everything? What songs would a self-made people sing? What's so interesting about teaching dolphins to count with a New Jersey accent? Or making a robot's larynx chant vowels? What if Androids could listen and whisper their support and approval? What if humans could master "voice-over" techniques? Why are most AI helpers, the so-called virtual assistants, all women? Why does everyone in the room have to talk to Siri immediately? Why that sampled voice in Black Box' Ride on Time? And why all the moaning in Je t'aime, moi non plus?

About the ensemble
HYOID specialises in contemporary vocal music and gives carte blanche to Irish composer and performance artist Jennifer Walshe as part of their residency at theFENIKS. Jennifer won the British Composer Award for Innovation in autumn 2016.

About the work of Jennifer Walshe
Jennifer Walshe's productions are almost always described as musical theatre. As a child of our time, Jennifer likes and frequently reflects on the internet age and our relationship with all forms of social media.

With A History of the Voice she is venturing into a full-length performance for vocal ensemble for the first time, exploring the boundaries between her own more experimental background and the lyrical background of classical singers.