Mamma Foundation's Vy Higginsen Receives VERA Award at VOICES OF SUMMER Gala Tonight

The Voice Foundation, the world's leading organization dedicated to the care and training of the human voice, will host its 42nd Annual Symposium: Care of the Professional Voice as well as its Voices of Summer Gala in Philadelphia from Wednesday, May 29 - Sunday, June 2, 2013. The Voice Foundation's symposium annually brings together top vocal health professionals for a unique, interdisciplinary opportunity to share the latest advances in scientific and medical voice research.

The Voice Foundation's annual Voices of Summer Gala will take place tonight, May 31st at 6:00 p.m. at the Westin Philadelphia. The black-tie event will include the presentation of The Voice Education Research Awareness (VERA) Award to Vy Higginsen, radio personality, playwright and producer (Mama, I Want to Sing), and founder of The Mama Foundation for the Arts and the Gospel for Teens music education program (seen in an Emmy Award-winning news feature on CBS' "60 Minutes"). The evening will also feature a performance from the Gospel for Teen Choir (seen in the current Off-Broadway production of Mama, I Want to Sing: The Next Generation).

Other award presentations that evening include the VERA Awards to Metropolitan Opera mezzo-soprano Susanne Mentzer, and the Raymond and Beverly Sackler Award to New Orleans music legend and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee Dr. John, as well as to Anthony Laciura, acclaimed actor ("Eddie" on HBO's "Boardwalk Empire") and character tenor with more than 600 Metropolitan Opera performances to his credit.

The Voice Foundation's Voices of Summer Gala is part of its 42nd Annual Symposium: Care of the Professional Voice, taking place at the Westin Philadelphia from Wednesday, May 29 - Sunday, June 2, 2013.

Highlights from the symposium will include:

- A Keynote Speech, to be given by Robert Hillman, Ph.D., Professor of Surgery at Harvard Medical School, on Thursday, May 30th at 1:30pm.

- A Master Class to student opera singers given by Metropolitan Opera Mezzo-Soprano/Huffington Post blogger Susanne Mentzer on Thursday, May 30th at 7:30 p.m.

- A series of hands-on vocal workshops will take place at the Academy of Vocal Arts on Friday afternoon, May 31st, from 1:30 - 5:30 p.m. Workshop presenters will address a variety of voice-related topics, including body movement, the injured singing voice, classical singing, musical theatre, pop and the acting voice, in an open program that encourages audience participation.

- The G. Paul Moore Lecture, which will be given on Saturday, June 1st at 11:00 a.m. by Thomas Murry, Ph.D., whose work as a clinician, scientist and educator lead to him being presented with the highest Honors of the American Speech-Language and Hearing Association.

In addition to these highlights, doctors, scientists, speech-language pathologists, singing teachers and students from across the globe will present new research about vocal production and techniques for the treatment of voice disorders. The Voice Foundation is the world's leading organization dedicated to the care and training of the human voice.

For more information, including the complete program, or to register to attend, please contact the Voice Foundation at (215)735-7999 or office@voicefoundation.org, or visit www.voicefoundation.org.

Pictured: Vy Higginsen with the Gospel for Teens Choir/Cast of Mama I Want to Sing: The Next Generation. Photo Credit: G.N. Miller.

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