Director of the Janette Ogg Voice Research Center and Associate Professor of Voice (Baritone) and Vocal Pedagogy David Meyer, D.M., co-authored “Safer Singing During the SARS-CoV-2 Pandemic: What We Know and What We Don’t,” an article recently published in the Journal of Voice. The publisher agreed to make this article freely accessible to the public during the pandemic.
On June 29, Dr. Meyer was also a featured panelist on “After COVID-19: Concerns For Singers,” a webinar by the National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS). The webinar examined the risk of singers contracting COVID-19 and how this risk typically centers on three possible outcomes: (1) avoiding COVID-19 infection altogether, (2) contracting COVID-19 and recovering from it and (3) contracting COVID-19 and dying from it. Another outcome that must be considered is contracting COVID-19 and living with its aftereffects. Because these aftereffects can include reduced lung capacity and intubation injuries — byproducts with potentially devastating effects on singers — this webinar was a frank discussion of these and other COVID-19-related concerns. The goal of the webinar was to help singers create their own COVID-19 Risk Assessment and Decision Matrix Tool.
