Effects of Voice Training on Speech Intelligibility of Individuals with Parkinson's Disease

HAROLD WIENS has held the position of Professor of Music at the University of Alberta since 1975. He graduated from Wilfrid Laurier University and from the Nordwestdeutsche Musik-Akademie in Detmold, Germany. He supported his studies through a German Academic Exchange Fellowship that he held for three years. Harold has appeared as a soloist and as a recitalist with orchestras and choral Societies in cities in Germany, France, Ireland, Ukraine, Canada and the United States. He has appeared on Canadian national radio and television, and he contributed to a recording that Radio Canada International released. He has premiered many new compositions. Violet Archer, Gerhard Krapf and Alfred Fischer have written works for him. These works are featured on a recording released with the assistance of a grant from the Alberta Foundation for the Performing Arts. During the past several years he has given master classes and conference presentations in parts of South America and Asia. He has published his research on voice/training development and its effect upon stress. Currently, he is involved in a project designed to study the effects of voice training/healing upon individuals who suffer from Parkinson's disease. Harold is active as a singer, adjudicator, and workshop clinician.