MEET THE ARTIST

D.D. Michael
Chair, PAVA Research Mentorship

Dr. D.D. Michael is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Otolaryngology at the University of Minnesota Medical School, and is Co-Director of the Lions Voice Clinic. She has a B.A. in music and psychology from Hamline University in St. Paul, MN, as well as a master’s degree in Speech-Language Pathology and a doctorate in Voice Science from the University of Minnesota. Dr. Michael has been a singer all of her life, a voice and piano teacher for over 40 years, and therefore has expertise in treating voice problems in professional voice users such as singers, actors, and teachers. A common part of her practice is returning injured singers to the stage. She also has expertise in functional breathing problems, particularly in athletes, and draws on her experience as a runner in treating these disorders. She is a member of the American Speech and Hearing Association (ASHA), the National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS), and the National Federation of Music Clubs (NFMC) and their local affiliates. She was the founder of the MNVoice, a professional organization for voice-specialty speech-language pathologists in Minnesota, and moderated the group for nearly two decades. For the National Association of Teachers of Singing, she has just finished her tenure as Chairman of the Voice Science Advisory Committee, and director of the NATS-sponsored website Vocapedia.info, which provides information about the voice that is vetted by a committee of voice scientists. She was instrumental in the movement that founded the Pan American Vocology Association (PAVA) in 2014, and now serves on the conference committee, co-directing the international online conference in 2020 and directing the 2021 conference in Minneapolis, at the University of Minnesota. Dr. Michael is a frequent presenter at national and international conferences for voice and singing science as well as voice treatment. She also lectures regularly at colleges around the state, where she presents seminars in vocal health and voice science for singers. Her areas of research and publication include perceptual characteristics of voice, acoustic measures of voice quality, and various aspects of normal and abnormal singing and speech production. As an educator, Dr. Michael’s goal is to make voice science accessible to singers and singing teachers, having written a series of articles explaining the workings of the singing voice for the Journal of Singing. She also trains graduate clinicians in voice disorders and the special needs of singers. In her work on the faculty of the Department of Otolaryngology, she often provides independent study opportunities for students in other departments, particularly in the School of Music, and clinical practicum opportunities for Master’s in Speech-Language-Pathology students from the Department of Speech-Language-Hearing Sciences. She maintains an active private voice and piano studio, and continues to perform in a variety of musical styles.