Meet Jenna Brown, the founder of Bristol Voice Care Network.
The city of Bristol has a rich tapestry of creatives and there’s a certain supportiveness that comes with being in a compact city. T-Bone Tunes joined the Bristol Voice Care Network in 2025. The network is a specialist support circle of vocal, voice, singing experts. I sat down with founder Jenna and asked a few questions about the networks creation, how it operates and what the future is for singing, voice care and musicians!
Hey Jenna can you share what inspired you to start Bristol Voice Care Network and how your personal journey with voice performance and research has shaped the practice’s approach?
In my work as a professional classical singer, my colleagues and I experienced vocal fatigue, coughs and colds, and other ailments that made performing challenging. On top of this, the demands of travel and juggling a busy freelance portfolio were just exhausting, and that’s before you even consider the impact of non-work/non-singing life on the voice (we all know that feeling of a lump in the throat when we experience an intense emotion, like grief).
When I started teaching singing, my students also often reported these issues, especially those who sang as a hobby in choirs or at open-mic events, and children and young people going through voice change, as well as women experiencing hormone-related voice challenges. So, I was curious to learn more about how I could support myself, my colleagues and my students.
What are some of the most common misconceptions about vocal health you encounter from clients, and how do you help people overcome them?
There are many vocal myths out there. A couple that stand out are that you can’t eat dairy products if you want to be a good singer. It’s not true. There are very few people in the world who actually cannot eat dairy, and if you think about the anatomy, nothing we eat or drink touches the vocal cords, or it shouldn’t – it goes down the other tube!
Another one I hear a lot is that if you have a cold, you need total vocal rest. That’s quite an old-fashioned view, and often it is better to keep the voice going and moving. Obviously, you need to use common sense, and if something hurts, stop. But for most people, after the initial stages of a cold, it is safe and sensible to continue using your voice gently. To overcome any misconceptions, the best thing is education. I teach people about their voices and also look at the anatomy and physiology in a not too daunting way
A lot of musicians deal with performance anxiety — can you explain how voice-focused strategies and coaching (such as those in your referral network) support artists not just technically but mentally before a performance?
I think a key thing to realise with performance anxiety is that for singers in particular, the instrument – the voice – is inseparable from the body. The voice is both instrument and identity, so anxiety can disrupt breath, muscle coordination, resonance, and cognitive focus simultaneously. Voice-focused strategies, therefore, work best when approached at the level of the whole person. At Bristol Voice Care, support is grounded in this integrated model. Rather than treating anxiety as something separate from technique, the work helps singers understand how a heightened nervous system response affects their voice and how specific breath regulation, semi-occluded vocal tract exercises, and pacing strategies can restore stability and agency before stepping on stage.
When singers understand what is happening physiologically, anxiety reduces. In this way, technical preparation becomes psychological preparation and we can move from simply coping with anxiety to developing a grounded, embodied understanding of it as a part of performance that can make it exciting and full of possibilities. That can take time, but we have a range of practitioners and strategies available to help people find the best way towards that vocal freedom.
What practical daily warm-up or recovery routines would you recommend to musicians of different genres (e.g., rock, jazz, classical) to maintain strong, resilient vocal health throughout a busy rehearsal or gig schedule?
A warm-up or cool-down protocol doesn’t necessarily need to be genre specific (although there may be times, especially with extreme vocals, where you want to prioritise certain exercises over others). The general principles can apply to anyone. The first of these is to use your voice daily. Sometimes we need a rest, and recognising that is part of looking after your voice; however, most of the people I work with who have some vocal issues aren’t warming up regularly. Adding 10-15 minutes to the start of your day to for vocal warm ups is a great first step.
You might also notice I said 10-15 mins – yes! That’s all it needs to be. The other common mistake people can make is warming up for too long. Try out your voice for 10 mins of gently warm up, and if it is working, stop. If it is not working, stop (!) and come back to it later (I take this advice from Pavarotti!)
A cool down is a similar 5-10 minutes process – the simplest version of which is a reversal of the above process on descending scale patterns! One of the things we help singers with is to build bespoke warm-up and cool-down routines, so get in touch for more info!
Looking ahead, what goals or developments do you have for Bristol Voice Care Network in terms of services, research, or community impact?
Looking ahead, I see the future of Bristol Voice Care Network developing in three interconnected ways. The first is strengthening our research profile. Because my own work and publications sit at the intersection of voice pedagogy, vocal health, and performer wellbeing, I’m keen to further embed research into the clinic’s everyday practice. That means building stronger partnerships with universities, contributing to peer-reviewed outputs, and developing practice-based research drawn directly from the work we do with singers and professional voice users.
A second priority is expanding and refining our specialist client services, particularly around vocal massage and manual therapy. We’re increasingly aware of how much jaw, tongue, neck, and thoracic tension can affect both vocal function and performance confidence. My goal is to develop a more structured pathway for vocal massage within Bristol Voice Care — from preventative pre-performance sessions to rehabilitation support and longer-term maintenance plans.
Finally, I’m very committed to deepening our community impact. I’d like Bristol Voice Care Network to play a larger role in preventative education — offering workshops, screenings, and collaborative events for choirs, educators, conservatoires, and independent artists.
