FITZMAURICE VOICEWORK

Fitzmaurice Voicework®
Fitzmaurice Voicework helps you develop a vibrant voice that can communicate expressively and powerfully without excess effort. The work encourages the integration of voice with body, breath, imagination, emotion, language, and presence. Catherine Fitzmaurice founded Fitzmaurice Voicework® by combining traditional voice techniques such as breath management with her adaptations of yoga, shiatsu, Reichian bodywork, and other body-based and meditative practices.

Certified Fitzmaurice teachers teach in the MFA acting programs at Yale and Harvard and in 100’s of other institutions all over the world, including NYU Studios the Moscow Art Theatre School. The complete list of certified Fitzmaurice voice teachers and institutions where the work is available here. 

The Fitzmaurice Institute
The Fitzmaurice Institute provides training in Fitzmaurice Voicework to the public as well as certification to teachers worldwide. The Institute is also responsible for maintaining the integrity and development of the work. For more information, visit www.fitzmauriceinstitute.org.

Catherine Fitzmaurice with Saul Kotzubei

Four Parts of Fitzmaurice Voicework:

Freedom and Spontaneity
This part of the work, called Destructuring, frees your voice and your breathing. Fitzmaurice exercises loosen muscular rigidity, increase natural resonance, develop a felt sense of internal flow, and encourage the breathing to become spontaneous. As your breathing becomes more free, you gain access to previously unconscious or frozen impulses. This part of the work expands your experience of your self, your sense of being present and free, and your ability to express these experiences vocally.

Focus
This part of the work, called Structuring, teaches you to communicate with vocal support and power that come from your core. This work helps you (re)discover the efficient process that emerges when you need to communicate something vocally. While this part of the work is technical, it is rooted in an organic process that many of us have lost access to by the time we become adults.

Presence
This part of the work supports greater vibrancy in practitioners, and results in a rich combination of receptivity, expressivity, and the ability just to be.

Play and Application
This part of the work combines freedom and focus with your imagination to address communication in contexts that are helpful for you. For performers, this work also helps you explore the full range of humanity that can be expressed through your voice.