“VOICE BUILDER” TO THE WORLD
A game-changing force in the world of voice and vocal communication since the 1980s, today Gary Catona is the world's first and only “voice builder.”
Catona’s international reputation has grown from the fact that not only has he built the voices of more than 100 of Hollywood's most famous singers and entertainers (e.g., Whitney Houston; Andrea Bocelli; Sade; Seal); he is also responsible for the astonishing recovery of a number of high-profile personalities (e.g., Jack Klugman; Muhammad Ali) who were faced with debilitating vocal disorders (e.g., throat cancer).
WHITNEY HOUSTON’S EXCLUSIVE VOICE TEACHER
Most recently, Catona has been the subject of intense media attention (e.g., CNN's Anderson Cooper; Entertainment Tonight; 20/20; Geraldo Rivera; Nancy Grace; People Magazine) for his role as Whitney Houston's exclusive voice teacher / builder during the last seven years of her life.
CELEBRITY CLIENTS
Babyface - Usher - Andrea Bocelli - Johnny Mathis - Whitney Houston - Michael McDonald - Steven Tyler - Robin Thicke - Annie Lennox - Sade - Brian Wilson - Liza Minnelli - Gloria Estefan - Earth - Wind & Fire - Lenny Kravitz - Gary Puckett - Shakira - Santigold - Shirley MacLaine - Seal - John Michael Montgomery - Toni Braxton - Boyz II Men - Kelis - 3 Doors Down - JoJo - Dick Clark - Tony Bennett - Jackson Browne - Lionel Richie - The Four Preps - Jack Klugman Sara Bareilles - Alice N’ Chains - Sandra Echeverria - Jaime Camil - Vivian Campbell - Draco Rosa - Jesse McCartney - Goo Goo Dolls - Surface - Jimmie Rodgers - Frankie Laine - Larry Carlton - Larry Gatlin - Tyra Banks - Andy Williams - Limp Bizkit - Smothers Brothers - Johnny Bush - Cody Simpson - Katy Perry - Kenna - Larry David - Pharrell Williams - Chad and Jeremy - Freddie and The Dreamers - Casey Kasem - Dotty West - Patrick Swayze - Rebecca Pidgeon - Stephen Bishop - Billy West - Rob Lowe - Dennis Hopper - Pat Boone - Billy Dean - Kevin Spacey - Chris Botti - Steve Tyrell - Kenny Loggins - David Pack - Nikka Costa - Lisa Marie Presley - Jessica Simpson - Kevon Edmonds - Gino Vannelli - Muhammad Ali - Robben Ford - After 7 - Mark Wahlberg - Michael Feinstein - Debra Cox - The Kingston Trio - Joe Stampley - Arnold McCullough - Lee Roy Parnell - Back Street Boys - Dennis Kucinich - Vanessa Paridis - Julia Migenes - Diane Rehm.
CELEBRITY CASE STUDIES
> JOHNNY BUSH
Johnny Bush, a Texas-based country singer, had lost his voice to spasmodic dysphonia – a vocal disorder characterized by uncontrollable vocal cord movement. He had struggled with spasmodic dysphonia for thirteen years. He tried various methods to treat his condition, including allergy medication, acupuncture, biofeedback, hypnosis and even psychological counseling.
Bush was considering two invasive techniques. One was an operation in which a recurrent nerve that controls the vocal cord movement is sectioned (severed), which neutralizes the spasming vocal cord. Another option involved injecting botox, a paralyzing toxin, into the same nerve. According to Catona: “It is generally believed that at present there is no effective long-lasting treatment for this condition, although surgery and botox injections are sometimes used for temporary relief.”
Catona decided to incorporate a series of aggressive vocal exercises. After a week, Bush’s speaking voice experienced some weakness, while his singing voice became stronger. Within ten sessions over the course of a month, however, Bush experienced a simultaneous increase in volume, resonance, and control for both his speaking and singing voice. As a result of several months of voice building exercises, Bush’s voice eventually returned in full force.
> LARRY CARLTON
In 1988, noted fusion jazz guitarist Larry Carlton was shot in the throat by an intruder on his property in Hollywood Hills. Rushed to the trauma center at St. Joseph’s Hospital in Burbank, California, he arrived in critical condition.
Because the bullet passed through his jugular vein, doctors said he could have died instantly. In fact, he made a great recovery but for one problem: the bullet had severed a nerve in his larynx that paralyzed his left vocal cord and reduced his voice to a whisper. Catona’s strategy with Larry included over-developing the one healthy vocal cord to the point where it began to compensate for the paralyzed one.
Carlton’s voice returned to normalcy within three months through Catona’s training.
> JACK KLUGMAN
Jack Klugman had one of his vocal cords removed because of throat cancer; his remaining vocal cord had to be radiated, which resulted in permanent scarring.
The doctors saved a percentage of his speaking voice by inserting a prosthetic where the cancerous vocal cord had been. The procedure did little to bring back his voice and Klugman was left with a raspy noise for a voice that could hardly be heard above a whisper.
After three months working with Catona, Klugman’s voice was significantly stronger as vocal tone began replacing his breathy rasp. He returned to the stage with Tony Randall to do The Odd Couple in 1990 at the Belasco Theatre.
> MICHAEL WILMINGTON
L.A. Times film critic Michael Wilmington contacted Catona after revealing that he suffered from spasmodic dysphonia. He underwent two months of rigorous exercises using Catona’s voice building system, at the end of which, his voice had returned to normal.
In 1993, Wilmington chronicled the return of his voice in an article in the Calendar section of the L.A. Times.
> SHIRLEY MACLAINE
In 1990, celebrity publicist Dale Olsen, who knew of Michael Wilmington’s voice return, reached out to Catona on behalf of Academy Award-winning actress, Shirley MacLaine, who was preparing to go on tour and wanted to strengthen her singing voice.
After eight months of advanced vocal training together, MacLaine devoted five pages of one of her books, Dance While You Can, to Catona and his dramatic influence on her singing success.
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GARY CATONA
“VOICE BUILDER” TO THE WORLD
A HOLLYWOOD “RENEGADE”
Despite Catona's enormous success as a voice builder, his system of voice building is still considered controversial by a number of professionals in the fields of singing instruction and vocal rehabilitation.
As a “renegade” voice teacher, his voice building system discards many longstanding beliefs and practices in those fields.
FOCUS ON MUSCULATURE
For his part, Catona holds that their approaches are misguided and often harmful. In their place, he has developed his own "Voice Building System," which combines ideas and practices from the classic Italian operatic traditions with modern principles in exercise physiology.
In short, the Catona voice building system is the methodical process of developing the musculature of the voice—the very muscles that determine every aspect of a person's voice (power, resonance, range, control, and endurance).
INEFFECTIVE TRAINING
Catona's rise to international prominence began after a failed singing career that included training under 14 different “voice coaches/teachers” who taught him ineffective—even destructive—training techniques over the course of a decade during his young adulthood.
A diligent student with a master's degree in philosophy from Penn State University, Catona's research skills enabled him to assess critically the writings and recommendations of his “hero”—the legendary operatic tenor, Enrico Caruso—and other great Italian opera singers.
“BEHIND THE GREAT VOICE IS THE MUSCULAR VOICE”
Catona concluded that his failures as a student of singing was a direct result of the popular, but misguided, approaches of his voice coaches.
Committed to finding the secret to creating a great voice, he began studying vocal anatomy and exercise physiology, where he discovered the truth that “behind the great voice is the muscular voice.” This realization became the foundation of his voice building system.
Through a process of study, reflection, and experimentation, he slowly developed his groundbreaking voice building system.
A CONTRASTING PHILOSOPHY
Catona was able to answer a perplexing question: What did the great singing masters of the past incorporate into their art that modern students of singing are missing? His research revealed that the masters invariably included some degree of voice building in their practice.
He argues that the modern-day voice coaching practices of “singing from the diaphragm,” “mask singing,” “relaxing the throat” during singing, and treating the voice “delicately” run counter not only to the training techniques of history's greatest singers (Caruso, for instance, explicitly warned against those practices); they also run contrary to the way the human voice is produced on a bio-mechanical level.
Modern-day practices, in other words, break down the proper muscular basis of voice production. For Catona, it's not a coincidence that there are far fewer exceptional singers performing today as compared with ages past; indeed, the practices of today’s voice coaches have often stunted the emergence of exceptional voices.
THE INADVERTENT REBEL
Catona's voice building system stands diametrically opposed not only to the prevailing practices in the field of singing instruction, but also in the area of vocal rehabilitation. A number of his students—some high-profile entertainers—have suffered from vocal disorders, ranging from simple hoarseness to vocal growths and vocal cord paralysis, as well as loss of the voice because of cancer and vocal disorders that have a neurological basis.
Whereas surgery and other invasive procedures are typically recommended to treat these disorders, Catona's voice building system has proven to be a safe—and often more effective—alternative to surgery and drug therapy.
WITHSTANDING HARSH CRITICISM
Most voice professionals refuse to embrace his system, ignoring his track record of success in building exceptional voices and saving damaged ones.
Despite harsh indictments and cold indifference from his critics, Catona’s celebrity client list stands as a testament to his role as a true revolutionary.
GLOBAL AMBITIONS
Catona’s work is not limited to celebrities, however. From the very beginning of his career, his long-term vision was to share his voice building system with the larger global community in order to change the way the voice is understood and treated.
When Catona’s aim is achieved, the voice will be seen for what it really is: one unified instrument of communication—whether for singing or speaking, for the healthy or the unhealthy voice. It’s only when the human voice is seen in this light that it will realize its full glory.
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