Voice Coach: Kate Firth. Voice Specialist

Kate Firth

Areas of Expertise: Voice

With a BA in Drama and Spanish, Kate worked as an actress before graduating with a PG Dip in Voice Studies from Central School of Speech and drama in 1996. Since then Kate has worked in theatre, film and TV.

Vocal Technique
Warm-up techniques. Building a robust reliable power source in the breath, ensuring the voice can freely, spontaneously and expressively connect to the character's thought and emotion. Kate will work on tone, range, projection, clarity and diction, stamina and control.

Text
Highly experienced with classical texts such as Shakespeare, Restoration, Wilde and Coward, and the precise vocal demands of sparser, more modren texts. Kate also works on character development through the text, ensuring the voice is free and supported, the words and phrasing given their true weight and value, and the character authentic and emotionally truthful. Kate can show TV/Radio presenters how to lift a text off the pafge and sound spontaneous, and teaches microphone technique.

Voice Challenges
Kate is especially interested working on vocally demanding aspects of performance such as fight scenes, performing in difficult acoustics, and in scenes of heightened emotion, shouting, whisper and scream. All of these need to be vocally safe and sustainable for the actor, yet truthful, audible and clear for the audience. Kate has worked with actors and directors on complex scenes such as crowd or party scenes, where there is a need for varying textures in terms of rhythm, tone and clarity as well as character individuality.

RP and Non-Native Actors
Kate works with actors of all linguistic backgrounds, and is keen to work with those who wish to improve their RP skills. With a background in applied linguistics and phonetics, and as a fluent speaker of Spanish, Kate has extensive experience working with non-native actors working in English.

Therapeputic Voicework
Kate has diplomas in massage and counselling, and helps performers handle nerves, physical tension and voice strain. She is exploring the psycho-physical connection between body, emotions, mind and voice in a MA in psychology.

Teaching Experience
Kate has taught voice and text at Central, The Oxford School of Drama, Moutview, Webber Douglas, ALRA, Edith Cowan University in Perth Australia and San Diego State University California. She was Voice Module Leader at The Bristol Old Vic Theatre School.

Kate also works in the business world as a voice and body language coach and has worked internationally with senior corporate executives, government departments and the NHS.