International Federation for Choral Music

Science and Practice of Choral Intelligibility

How many times have we heard that a choir sounds great, but it is just impossible to distinguish what they sing? Anastasia Kananovich, a third-year PhD student at the University of Strasbourg, puts this question at the heart of her research on the intelligibility of choirs. During the next Online Café, Anastasia will offer an overview of main scientific findings on the intelligibility of sung texts and possible applications to choral practice. She will also update us on her own work, sharing some results of the survey she has conducted among members of the international choral community (more than 350 responses from choristers, conductors, vocal and language coaches, and choral composers from all over the world) and presenting the ongoing experimental phase of her research and its perspectives.

Register here

Anastasia Kananovich is a PhD student at the University of Strasbourg, where she is preparing a doctoral thesis in phonetics and didactics on the intelligibility of choirs. A graduate in Foreign Language Didactics and teacher of the Italian language certified by Ca’ Foscari University of Venice, Anastasia has been singing in choirs for around 20 years. She is currently a chorister with the prestigious Strasbourg Philharmonic Choir (conducted by Catherine Bolzinger), which performs with professional orchestras under the baton of internationally renowned conductors. Anastasia has worked with choristers on Russian and Italian pronunciation on several occasions. She also conducted the Council of Europe Choir in Strasbourg for three years.

Anastasia has presented her research at scientific conferences and choral events in France and abroad, in particular at the PEVOC (Pan European Voice Conference), the International Research Conference of the Australian National Choral Association, and the Membership Weekend of the European Choral Association. Several of these presentations have led to the publication of articles.