Darby Winterhalter Lofstrand - Adjunct Professor, Northern Arizona University

Dear Judie Christie and Richard Gough,

It is with a deeply dismayed heart I read your e-mail informing us of the impending financial cuts to CPR and the Giving Voice conference.

I've been blessed to attend the conference twice, and both times were nothing short of a godsend for me. It is, in fact, a direct result of the information received during my last trip to Wales that I was hired at Northern Arizona University to develop a voice class. I can honestly say I would not be fully employed if I had not attended the 2006 Giving Voice conference.

The breadth and quality of the training done during the workshops is immeasurable. Every workshop allows me to develop in ways I could never dream of here in the States. They are concise, pedagogical, experiential, and always engaging. The information I have gained during both conferences allows me to teach with more depth and interest, and to bring variations of thought and focus into the classroom through exercises, not theory.

Along with the workshops, CPR allows me to view numerous vocal performances in a short amount of time, and to view them with like-minded professionals and artists. The friendships I've made and the contacts I still retain are both personally and professionally enriching. I've never had the same type of experience at any other conference -- CPR provides a safe, open, and inviting environment into which vocal artists, teachers, and students can interact, explore, and grow on equal footing. It is also one of the few conferences which is truly international, allowing for a dialogue between people of vastly differing culture, theory, and experience.

There are very, very few venues that provide the artistic, intellectual, and experiential exploration that is provided by the Giving Voice conference. I can't afford to attend the Giving Voice conference as often as I'd like, but knowing it is there -- a constant to which I can aspire to attend and/or present -- is both personally pleasing and professionally necessary. It would be not only heartbreaking but make much more difficult my continuing education in this field.

I strongly urge the Arts Council to continue funding this internationally recognized and acclaimed venue at the fullest level.

Darby Winterhalter Lofstrand
Adjunct Professor Theatre Department Northern Arizona University