VI AUSTENFELD
Vi (pronouns: he/him and they/them) is a singer, voice teacher, conductor, and composer based in Boston, Massachusetts.
ABOUT VI
Hi, my name is Vi and I'm a nonbinary trans man with dual passions in pedagogy and performance - welcome!
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I enjoy performing as a singer-songwriter, choral musician, and soloist in Boston and all around New England. I teach local voice lessons through WholeTone Music Academy and am also a proud instructor of singing and trans voice training at The Voice Lab, Inc. I primarily teach adults but always reserve a few spots in my studio for younger singers, and my particular passions and specialization include training soprano voices and working with transgender singers pursuing testosterone therapy, supported by my research on trans vocal acoustics and the soprano whistle register. I'm also the Music Director at First Parish in Malden, a Unitarian Universalist congregation, where I collaborate with my fellow staff every week to create creative and meaningful worship services, featuring music from traditional hymns and choral anthems to contemporary pop and folk music. As an independent composer and songwriter, I write music focused on queer experiences and foregrounding the performances of queer musicians.
GRADUATE RECITAL MATERIALS
My Master's lecture-recital was cancelled due to COVID-19, but my program, including texts, translations, and program notes, is available here!
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Program order, texts, and my own translations here.
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UPCOMING EVENTS
POSTPONED: WEST COAST PREMIERE OF SAPPHIC FRAGMENTS BY THE INTERNATIONAL ORANGE CHORALE OF SAN FRANCISCO
Sapphic Fragments (2018) will receive its West Coast premiere as part of IOCSF's "Freshly Squeezed" program of all premieres in Berkeley, CA and San Francisco, CA - Rescheduled Concert TBD due to COVID-19
RECENT EVENTS
"FACH THIS" VIRTUAL CONCERT WITH OPERA ON TAP BOSTON
Performed short YouTube and Instagram video concert as part of Opera on Tap's November 2020 celebration of transgender voices, including a premiere of "There Will Be Stars" commissioned from Laura Nevitt.
BEST POSTER WINNER: NATS NATIONAL CONFERENCE 2020
National Association of Teachers of Singing National Conference, Online, 6/25-6/30/2020.
Won Best Poster Award for "Acoustic Registration Events and Proposed Training Strategies for Transgender Singers on Testosterone."
This poster paper introduces the unique nexus of laryngeal and acoustic registration events experienced by transgender men and non-binary transgender people pursuing testosterone (T) therapy. Topics covered include analysis of the first-ever formant profiles of transgender singers on T and practical teaching strategies for these singers. This research is conducted and presented by a non-binary singer who trains transgender voices in both choral and solo settings.
HANSEL (HANSEL AND GRETEL)
With Due Donne Productions, first run in August 2019 and second run in December 2019. The quintessential pants role for a soprano with short hair who enjoys the middle register.
PRIME DONNE
Aria night with Due Donne Productions. Performed "Zerfliesse, mein Herze" from Bach's St. John Passion and "Frère, voyez!....Du gai soleil" from Massenet's Werther.
CHANGE, A CONCERT BY QUORUM BOSTON
Quorum Boston's summer 2019 concert, featuring the premiere of "change" as well as other works by queer composers, especially local Boston composers.
NEC SONGWRITERS' ENSEMBLE
Performed original song "This Is How It Feels" in December 2019.
COMPOSITIONS
Perusal scores available upon request
SPEAK. BE HEARD. BE LOVED
SATB + 3 speakers (2020)
Music and text by Vi Austenfeld. Spoken poem with choir and optional piano, dealing with transgender and non-binary identity and existence. Premiered at First Parish in Malden for a service on transgender identity and pronouns.
AS WE ARE
SATB + piano
Short choral setting of the poem by Anaïs Nin: "We do not see things as they are; we see them as we are." Premiered at First Parish in Malden.
CHANGE
SATB (2019)
Music and text by Vi Austenfeld, addresses the process of growth from a difficult relationship. Premiered by Quorum Boston.
SAPPHIC FRAGMENTS: MEDITATIONS ON QUEER HISTORIES AND IMAGINARIES
SATB w/divisi (2018)
English translations of poems by Sappho. A collection of fragments assembled to tell stories of the queer community. Premiered by Quorum Boston.