Trans Voice School
Inclusive voice training and research
The Trans Voice School is a training and research initiative dedicated to the vocal accompaniment of trans, non-binary and gender-exploring people.
Working with spoken and sung voice practices, the project focuses in particular on testosterone-induced vocal changes (second vocal puberty), while situating vocal work within its broader social, cultural and relational contexts.
The Trans Voice School is primarily designed for voice professionals: voice teachers, vocal coaches, speech and voice practitioners, somatic practitioners, educators and artists working with voice.
Vocal changes related to gender transition — especially testosterone-induced second puberty — cannot be reduced to technical vocal adjustments.
They engage:
the body as a whole
self-perception and embodied identity
relationships to gendered vocal norms
nervous system regulation
personal, social and cultural histories
Many existing vocal approaches, however:
rely on cisnormative reference models
reproduce binary vocal expectations
frame trans voices primarily as problems to correct
The Trans Voice School was created to address these limits through a rigorous, situated and non-pathologizing framework.
Beyond technical vocal work, the Trans Voice School approaches voice as a social, cultural and relational site.
Voice is not neutral. It is shaped by norms and expectations related to gender, authority, legitimacy, language and identity. These norms determine which voices are heard, trusted, valued or dismissed.
Trans vocal pathways make these mechanisms particularly visible. By operating at the margins of normative vocal models, they reveal how voices are shaped, constrained, authorized or disqualified within broader social systems.
In this sense, focusing on trans and non-binary voices does not narrow the scope of the work.
It opens a broader field of inquiry into how voice functions as a site where social norms, representations and power relations are embodied, negotiated and sometimes transformed.
The work developed within the Trans Voice School is grounded in a multidisciplinary framework, combining:
vocal physiology and acoustics
in-depth understanding of second vocal puberty
embodied and somatic practices
careful attention to pedagogical and relational frameworks
insights from the human sciences (psychology, sociology, pedagogy)
The proposed framework is:
non-normative
non-pathologizing
centered on safety, exploration and autonomy
attentive to consent and power dynamics in pedagogical relationships
The objective is not to fit voices into predefined categories, but to support long-term vocal processes, respecting each person’s rhythm and lived experience.
The Trans Voice School develops:
professional training programs for voice practitioners
research-informed pedagogical frameworks
tools for reflective, ethical and inclusive vocal accompaniment
It is conceived as a living and transmissible framework, rather than a fixed method.
Context
The Trans Voice School is developed within Dis Vague, a cultural and social initiative based in France, working at the intersection of:
culture
education and knowledge transmission
health, inclusion and social connection
The project is locally rooted while remaining open to international dialogue, research partnerships and cross-disciplinary collaboration.
International collaborations
The Trans Voice School actively seeks:
international research partnerships
pedagogical collaborations
artistic or academic exchanges
residency-based or project-based initiatives
This page is intended as a point of contact for international institutions, researchers, educators and cultural partners interested in collaborative work around voice, body, culture and identity.
📩 For international collaborations and inquiries: ecoledesvoixtrans@gmail.com