Pan European Voice conferences (PEVOC) have been held in different European cities since 1995. The PEVOC is committed to offer a platform for everyone who is interested in the human voice and wants to exchange scientific results as well as practical knowledge. The focus is in particular on the integration of the different professions, since voice research is a field of exceptional interdisciplinary. The huge success of past conferences and the growing response to the PEVOCs disclose the need for such a structured interdisciplinary exchange.

It is a great pleasure to host the international Voice community in August 2009 for the 8th Pan European Voice conference in Dresden. The conference will take place at the University of Music Carl Maria von Weber, which looks back on a tradition of more than 200 years and is closely connected with important artists like Carl Maria von Weber and Richard Wagner. In 1959 the „Studio für Stimmforschung“ (voice research lab) was founded. For many years now the lab has been providing a scientific insight into the professional voice. Since its establishment the lab has cooperated closely with the Departments of Otorhinolaryngology at the University Hospital Carl Gustav Carus Dresden and the Hospital Dresden-Friedrichstadt, which results in an intensive interdisciplinary collaboration of singers, singing teachers, phoniatricians, speech therapists and engineers.

The chosen conference topic „The professional voice in communication today– towards the integration of science and voice education“ reflects on the interest of all voice professionals to work together more closely and combine approaches from different areas. We want to bring artists, teachers, medical professionals, speech therapists and engineers together and discuss new technical developments that support the training and therapy of the voice. Furthermore, we will discuss the interaction of science and traditional voice education and therapy. Other interesting contributions will be: What different voice education strategies are used around the world? How do emotion and voice influence each other?