There is a very alarming mindset today where singing is concerned.

Lack of criteria abounds. Professional singers and physicians tend to accept vocal exhaustion and
injury as an inevitable part of the profession of singing.
This is chaos.
In an article in the Associated Press, GEORGE JAHN interviews well-known mezzo soprano
Vesselina Kasarova.
A quote from the article:
"Sometimes when I think of all that I do for my voice, I think I don't want to go on," she said,
during a stop in Vienna, where she will perform works by Mozart, Donizetti, Tchaikovsky and Verdi
with Bulgarian soprano Krassimira Stoyanova at the Austrian capital's gilt Musikverein concert
hall April 30.
She says that after 10 years on stage, most singers develop common cold-like symptoms year-round,
"because we breathe in dirt, dust and odors" while performing. Ailments affecting the breathing
passages occur as frequently for singers as joint problems for professional tennis players, Kasarova
explains.
And like athletes in a fiercely competitive environment, some singers turn to drugs to perform
instead of opting for a rest. But the gain is only short term.
Overuse of steroids in the form of cortisone is common, say singers and doctors treating them. The
treatment masks problems with inflamed vocal cords but the problem worsens to the point where
operations may become necessary. That, in turn can change a voice and even ruin it.

Ms. Kasarova says that singers get sick as frequently as tennis players suffer from joint problems.
A New York Times article, "Advances in Medicine Lead Stars to Surgery"
By JAMES C. McKINLEY Jr., published November 18, 2011, stated that many doctors believe
that singing is "as hard on the larynx as a professional football game is on a linemans body... and
that it is "athletic" and detrimental to the voice.
Another article appeared in 2011: Adele, Keith Urban, John Mayer: Why Are So Many Singers
Having Surgery? By Shirley Halperin, THR
Expecting singers to be injured as they would in extreme sports is preposterous.
Singing is an Art based on a balanced, healthy, vocal instrument.
Singers turning to cortisone and surgery cannot be blamed on "dirt, dust and odors" or on a
demanding, competitive environment.
Less stress alone does not allow for a long career.
Medical treatment for a problem resulting from harmful use of the voice is just a temporary fix.
As specialists in vocal education, re-education and repair, we have observed directly how singers
who finish appropriate re-education studies, even those who had been suffering from acute voice
abuse due to previous vocal practices, can achieve the same high level of technical mastery as an
instrumentalist, acquire permanent stability and autonomy and never again suffer from vocal
difficulty, vocal dysfunction or injury.
Once the cause of vocal abuse is permanently removed through re-education, vocal health is
reinstated.
Lisa Paglin, New Voice Studio Italia.-www.newvoicestudioitalia.com
Osimo (AN) ITALY
+39071715029