ANATS NSW Presents: Crafting the Choral Voice

ANATS NSW Presents: Crafting the Choral Voice

An interactive singing workshop with Dr Naomi Cooper

Good vocal technique can fall through the cracks when you’re singing in or conducting a choir. We know that it would make our choir sound better, but it can be low on the list of priorities when you have repertoire to learn and performances to prepare for. Join Dr Naomi Cooper as she helps you learn how to care for your voice and others’, and how to teach or practice vocal technique in choral contexts.

This workshop is jam-packed with activities and exercises specifically tailored for choirs, and is backed by easy-to-digest theory to ensure your understanding and ability to design programs for your own choirs. We will explore vocal technique (alignment, breath management, phonation, resonance, and articulation), warming up, cooling down, and vocal care.

Whether you’re a choral director, choral singer, or someone called on to step in, this workshop is designed to help you lead the warm-up, run a section, take the whole session, or take on a leadership role.

This Workshop is for Choral Directors, Vocal Section Leaders, Choral Singers, Singers of all levels and anyone wanting to run a choral/group warm up.

Dr Naomi Cooper

Dr Naomi Cooper is a freelance choral conductor, music educator and researcher based in Sydney. Naomi has extensive experience conducting children’s, school, university, Parkinson’s and community choirs and is sought after for her warm and inclusive approach. At the heart of her practice is her passion for building community through singing.

As a choir conductor, Naomi travelled to Estonia in 2025 and 2019 with Kooskõlas (a nationwide Estonian-Australian choir) that performed as part of the massed choir of 30,000 singers at Laulupidu, Estonia’s Song Celebration that takes place every 5 years. She also travelled to the USA as assistant musical director to Tony Backhouse on a gospel choir tour in 2018.

She currently conducts Sydney Alterna choir (an a cappella community choir in Sydney’s Inner West singing pop, folk, indie, and songs from around the world), Hornsby/Ku-ring-gai Parkinson’s Association Choir (for people with Parkinson's disease and their loved ones), Village Voices at Uniting Leichhardt, and Angelo Singers (Monte Sant' Angelo Mercy College's chamber choir).

In 2024 Naomi and her partner Jack established Sing Summit, a weekend singing retreat in Sydney and Newcastle and hope to bring it further afield in the coming years!

In 2025 Naomi was awarded the Sydney Symposium Choral Conducting Scholarship and she is undertaking study with some of the world’s leading choral conductors. She is currently an adjunct research fellow at Griffith University’s Creative Arts Research Institute working on projects related to the singing voice and choirs, including a project as part of a team investigating vocal pedagogy for transgender singers. Her PhD research focused on the teaching and learning practices in Australian community choirs.

Naomi’s expertise in the choral field has been recognised through publications in books, journal articles and conference proceedings nationally and internationally. Naomi also teaches guitar and voice privately.