Vocal Week at WHS: A celebration of the Voice

Anna Prowse

Head of Singing

Wimbledon High School

30 January 2026

Vocal Week at WHS: A Celebration of the Voice 

Now in my second year as Head of Singing here at WHS, I was delighted to introduce a brand-new event into our musical calendar: Vocal Week, held for the first time this week.  

And what a week it has been! With a variety of events from talks to masterclasses to workshops, it marks an important milestone for our school, as it chooses to invest in expression, connection, and artistry at a time when many institutions are being forced to scale back. It has signalled to our students that singing is not an afterthought but a respected and vital part of our school culture. And to our singers that the work they’ve poured into their craft is valued. And it signals to the entire community that music at WHS is not background decoration, but a living, breathing artistic force. In a world where music and the Arts face increasing fragility, shrinking funding, and fewer opportunities for young musicians, creating Vocal Week has been a positive statement of hope.  

The Voice: Flesh, Breath, Emotion 

The human voice is the only instrument built of living tissue. Before a single note reaches the air, breath gathers in the lungs, the diaphragm steadies, the larynx adjusts, allowing the vocal folds to stretch, shorten, and vibrate, and the resonating spaces of the chest, throat, and skull shape raw vibration into song. While the science goes a long way towards explaining the ‘how’, it cannot fully explain the ‘why’. As Maya Angelou once said, “a bird sings not because it has an answer but because it has a song.”  Scientists have shown that music can regulate heart rate, reduce stress hormones, and even synchronise brain waves between performer and listener. When we sing, we don’t just express ourselves, we shape the emotional landscape of the people around us.  

Why the Voice Matters Now and Always 

Beyond performance, the human voice is one of our oldest and most powerful tools for communication. Long before written language, people used tone, rhythm, and breath to share stories, warnings, comfort, and joy. Singers tap into that ancient lineage – a melody can cross borders and reach people who may not share a single word of language. Neuroscientists have shown that the voice activates regions of the brain tied to empathy and social bonding, a musical reminder that we are meant to connect, not isolate. 

Singing also transforms the singer. Discipline, patience, resilience, vulnerability and courage are all the hallmarks of a trained singer. Over time, the voice reflects not only technical growth but emotional maturity. The weeks spent in early morning rehearsals, late night concerts, endless warmups, technical and emotional challenges, auditions, successes, rejections and the sheer joy of feeling alive through song – all of this has been celebrated this week.  

But voices cannot resonate in a vacuum, they require institutions, rehearsal spaces, teachers, orchestras, and audiences and these are all in tragic decline. My own training began as a chorister at Exeter Cathedral School. I was the first ever Deputy Head Girl Chorister and that experience set me up for life. I learned the recent sad news that the school will close its doors in summer 2026, as it can no longer afford to stay open. Fortunately, the chorister programme will continue to run, as it has since 1179, making it one of the oldest continuous choral traditions in the UK and indeed in Europe. Such stories are all too common and the shrinking stages singers find themselves on are precarious indeed. Without renewed investment, without recognising the arts as essential rather than expendable, we risk losing not only venues and companies, but livelihoods, traditions and culture; arguably the essence of humanity. A world that allows its stages to go dark also allows its voices to go unheard; and those fragile, courageous, and profoundly human voices are what we must fight for at all costs. 

Why Vocal Week Is More Than a Schedule 

This week has been a testament to the value of the voice. It was felt on Monday when someone found an exercise that helps them find calm; in Tuesday’s hush before our competitors bravely took to the floor; in Wednesday’s shared resonance when Papagena sung a spine-tingling chord; in Thursday’s storytelling; in Friday’s smiles.  

The voice needs care. It needs rooms like our Auditorium, teachers and coaches, colleagues and friends, and audiences who understand that a single human phrase can move an entire room.  

So, thank you for supporting our singers this week. Let’s give the human voice what it deserves: focus, warmth, and a stage, and in return you will be rewarded with moments of true human connection as one person’s voice resonates deeply with your own.