Singing Researcher, Author, Presenter

I am passionate about the field of voice pedagogy and its cultural intricacies. I have a book published by Routledge based on my doctoral research, Exposing the Chasms in Voice Pedagogy: Playing the Field (2024), and I am currently working on and edited collection. I am the current Co-Editor of Australian Voice journal, the journal of the Australian National Association of Teachers of Singing.

In 2020 I received my PhD from the University of Southern Queensland. My research was in the field of Contemporary Voice Pedagogy and my thesis is titled In the Room Where it Happens: Teaching Musical Theatre and Contemporary Commercial Music (CCM) Singing. My research involved examining how musical theatre voice teachers in the United States teach other Contemporary and Commercial Music (CCM) styles like pop, country and rock, to their musical theatre students.

I used a multi-sited focused ethnographic (MSFE) approach, visiting six universities in the United States and observing musical theatre voice teachers in action. I used observation, interviews and videos for data collection. For more information about this novel research method into one-to-one voice pedagogy, see this publication, co-authored with Dr Melissa Forbes, in Music Education Research here: https://doi.org/10.1080/14613808.2022.2138842

I am a Big Q qualitative researcher interested in Contemporary and Commercial Music (CCM) and musical theatre voice pedagogy, gender equity, equity in higher education, performing arts. I am experienced in qualitative methods, in particular ethnography. I use, among other analytic tools, Reflexive Thematic Analysis (Braun and Clark, 2020; 2022) and I am interested in the concepts of capitals, practice, habits, and field as articulated by Bourdieu.

I have been involved in multiple research projects, including an interdisciplinary study with the University of Auburn and the University of Central Florida examining emotional safety in the voice teaching studio. Another project was concerned with gender equity in academic employment in higher education musical theatre programs which has involved researchers from Florida Southern University and Auburn University. Results from these projects have been presented at NATS and The Voice Foundation. I am currently serving as Co-Editor of Australian Voice, the journal of the Australian Association of Teachers of Singing.

Publications

Foster, M., Cox, D., Saunders Barton, M. (pending 2026). Pedagogy of Western Musical Theatre. In J. Nix, J., and L. Scearce, (Eds.) The Oxford Handbook of Voice Pedagogy. Oxford University Press.

Cox, Dale (2024). Exposing the Chasms in Voice Pedagogy: Playing the Field. Routledge.

Cox, D. (2024). Accessing Speech for CCM and Musical Theatre / Accent Work. In Marci Rosenberg and Wendy LeBorgne (Eds), The Vocal Athlete: Application and Technique for the Hybrid Singer. Plural.

Cox, D. Sage, R, Mason, J.  (2024). Introducing MTEA Voice and the Development of a Musical Theatre Singing Voice Glossary. MTEA Journal. DOI 10.62392/KIAD3870.

Cox, D. & Forbes, M. (2022). Introducing multi-sited focused ethnography for researching one-to-one (singing voice) pedagogy in higher education, Music Education Research. DOI: 10.1080/14613808.2022.2138842

Cox, Dale (2020). In the Room Where it Happens: Teaching Musical Theatre and Contemporary and Commercial Music (CCM) singing. [PhD Thesis].  https://eprints.usq.edu.au/40200/7/DCOX%20THESIS%20FINAL.pdf

Research areas

  • Higher Education Music Research
  • One to one teaching
  • Voice pedagogy
  • The cultural field of voice pedagogy
  • Musical theatre singing voice
  • Contemporary Commercial Music (CCM) singing pedagogy
  • Ethnography
  • Bourdieu
  • Shulman’s Signature Pedagogies
  • Popular music research
  • Qualitative research
  • Mixed Methods
  • Thematic Analysis

Presentations

  • Musical Theatre Educators Alliance International Conference: Harmony Across Borders: Global Perspectives in Musical Theatre Education. July 23-25, 2024. Collaboration and co-operation: Cross disciplinary training in conversation. Panel moderator. Guildford, UK.
  • National Association of Teachers of Singing: 58th NATS National Conference. June 28 – July 2, 2024. Playing the game: Identifying the invisible forces at work in the field of voice pedagogy. Knoxville, TN, USA.
  • The Voice Foundation 53rd Annual Symposium: Care of the Professional Voice. May 29 – June 2nd, 2024. What is Your Position? Identifying Systemic Structural Forces in the Playing Field of Voice Pedagogy. Philadelphia, USA.
  • Women and Allies in Music, Coastal Carolina University. Gender Equity in Music Education. December 4, 2023.
  • The Voice Foundation 52nd Annual Symposium: Care of the Professional Voice. May 31 – June 4, 2023. Accepted. Belonging and Excluding: Who Can Play in the Field of Voice Pedagogy?  Unable to present due to visa requirements. This was an in-person only conference.
  • Musical Theatre Educators Alliance (MTEA) January 4-6, 2023. Keynote speaker. Exposing the chasms in voice pedagogy: Playing the field. Open Jar Studios, New York.
  • ICVT 2022 August 3-7, 2022. Registrational pitch parameters for contemporary singing training: Considerations, research, and practice. Collaborative project with Dr Kathleen Bell. University of Vienna.
  • ICVT 2022 August 3-7, 2022. From Theory to Embodiment: Considerations of cross training for classical and contemporary voice teachers. Collaborative research project with Shelli Hulcombe (Queensland Conservatorium, Griffith University). University of Vienna.
  • Musical Theatre Educators Alliance (MTEA) Conference January 4-6, 2022: The Gender Gap: Faculty Equity in Musical Theatre. Co-presenter with research partners Dr Elizabeth Benson (Auburn University) and Dr Christianne Roll (Florida Southern University). (Online)
  • Musical Theatre Educators Alliance (MTEA) Conference January 4-6, 2022. Position Paper MTEA Voice. Glossary of Terms for Musical Theatre Professionals. Lead Author with Raymond Sage (Penn State University) and Joseph Mason (Valdosta State University). (Online)
  • Australian National Association of Teachers of Singing: National Conference. Come Together. Online. The year that changed my teaching: Ethnographic research into music theatre and CCM voice pedagogy. (October 2020).
  • National Association of Teachers of Singing: 56th NATS National Conference. Online. Versatility for employability: Current music theatre training, research, and practice. (June 2020).
  • Musical Theatre Educators’ Alliance (MTEA). Riding the Wave of Musical Theatre. San Diego. Riding the Wave of Change: Creating Life Changing Professional Development (January 2020).
  • The Voice Foundation, Philadelphia. The Use of Focused Ethnography as a Methodology in CCM Voice Pedagogy Research (June 2019).
  • Shenandoah Conservatory. Bodywork for Singing Teachers, (October 2018, May 2019).
  • Musical Theatre Educator’s Alliance (MTEA). Beyond Broadway. Orlando.
    Presenter: You’re from where? Australian music theatre performers and the quintuple threat: singer, actor, dancer, instrumentalist and entrepreneur, (January 2018).
  • ANATS, The Young Singer’s Journey. Co-Convener NSW, Australia, (May 2018).
  • ANATS Voice Building for all Ages: The mature voice, (March 2018).
  • Auburn University, Alabama, USA. Music theatre in Australia: opportunities and partnerships, (January 2018).
  • Overcoming Performance Anxiety, Brisbane. Presenter and workshop facilitator, (August 2015).