Schedule: Q1 2014

Please note: this schedule is subject to change

January 3: The art of screaming Voice Speech pathologist and American Speech Language Hearing Association (ASHA) member Sarah Schneider, 'scream' coaching expert Melissa Cross and thrash metal singer Steve Souza (Hatriot, Dublin Death Patrol, Exodus, Legacy/Testament) chat about the physical risks of screaming and how artists who have to raise their voices on a regular basis can do so safely.

January 10: It’s reigning men Aaron Humble and Adam Reinwald, who sing with Cantus, one of only two full-time professional men’s choruses in the country, share their thoughts about the culture of the male singing voice in the United States and elsewhere and how they promote singing to young people, especially boys.

January 17: Singing without sight Acclaimed mezzo-soprano Laurie Rubin discusses what it takes to lead a successful career as a singer when you're blind and how other sight-impaired vocalists such as Stevie Wonder, Ray Charles and Andrea Bocelli have made world-class names for themselves in a world that's so deeply vision-oriented.

January 24: From Pakistan to the Bay Area Vocalists Riffat Sultana and Sukhawat Ali Khan, siblings who come from a lauded lineage of Pakistani singers, (their father is the Pakistani musical icon Ustad Salamat Ali Khan) discuss their rich vocal music journey from Hindustani classical music to banghra.

January 31: DIY songs for kids Erin Bregmann of the Little Opera Company, a San Francisco-based organization that creates operas from scratch with grade school students, Ruth Nott, director of education for the San Francisco Opera, and Graham Welch, a professor of music education at The University of London and a major force behind the UK’s Sing Up! Initiative to inculcate singing in schools, talk about why vocal music education matters and off-the-beaten track ways to get kids participating.

February 7: Gramophone Gods Singer and early vocal recordings champion Meredith Axelrod chats about the vocalists who pioneered recorded sound technologies in the early twentieth century and the revival of interest in singing and recording techniques from this period today.

February 14 Pucker up Virtuoso whistler and music journalist Jason Victor Serinus chats about the art of whistling and making a career out of this oft derided vocal art form.

February 21 The many voices of Bob Dylan Bob Dylan’s voice has been compared to sandpaper and described as "a catarrhal death rattle." Blues music aficionado Devon Strolovitch discusses the colors of Dylan's vocal instrument.

February 28: What a lovely Aria! I mean Number Opera blogger Charlise Tiee (Opera Tattler) and musical theatre blogger Chad Jones (Theater Dogs) discuss the often porous line that exists between the worlds of musical theatre and opera.

March 7: Pitch Perfect? Ever since Cher scored a hit with “Believe” in 1998, Auto-Tune, a digital tool which helps singers adjust their vocal pitch, has become a ubiquitous presence in the pop music world. Join Andy Hildebrand, the inventor of Auto-Tune, for a discussion about the tool’s legacy and future.

March 14: Charlotte’s Changes The versatile Welsh vocalist Charlotte Church chats about how she morphed from being one of the world’s most successful child sopranos to finding her voice in the indie rock space.

March 21: Feel the Rhythm Jazz vocalist and Grammy Awards board member Kitty Margolis discusses how she helps aspiring jazz singers develop their improvisation chops.

March 28: Linguistic Gymnastics Composer Mason Bates, who has written song cycles for Chanticleer and is currently affiliated with the San Francisco Symphony, talks about how composers tackle setting texts in different languages.