Soren Austenfeld

About Soren Austenfeld

Hi! I’m Soren (he/him & they/them), and I’m a singer, Unitarian Universalist religious professional, voice teacher, composer & songwriter, and trans voice specialist.I’ve served as the Music Director at First Parish in Malden, a Unitarian Universalist congregation, since 2019. I collaborate in worship planning, lead music during services, direct the choir, band, and music program, and oversee elements of our A/V and hybrid worship systems. I’ve taught singing voice lessons since 2017, and have also taught beginning piano and gender-affirming speaking voice. My research and teaching interests have included soprano whistle register/treble range extension and somatosensory feedback/the sensations we feel when we sing. In 2020, I began a multi-year deep dive into transmasculine voice pedagogy, including both quantitative research (for which I won the Best Poster Award at the NATS National Conference 2020) and the development of best practices in the studio in my teaching position at trans voice hub The Voice Lab, Inc.(Chicago/online). I\'ve navigated my own voice change process on HRT, and worked with dozens of other singers doing the same. I’ve always maintained a gender-diverse studio with many voice types, including cis and trans people of various genders, and I practice a student-centered model in which artistic and technical goals are co-discovered and created in the studio over time - not prescribed by pre-determined expectations of a singer’s genre, gender, or abilities.

Experience

1. Music Director

   First Parish In Malden Uu

   Jun 2019 — Present · Malden, MA, US

   I collaborate in worship planning, lead music during services, direct the choir, band, and music program, and oversee elements of our A/V and hybrid worship systems.Following the COVID-19 shutdown during my first year at First Parish, I developed technical and creative skills for sustaining musical community - from developing tools for virtual choir to planning services so that all group singing could happen outside during our return to in-person worship.In June 2021, I was responsible for developing an outdoor, fully participatory hybrid A/V flow that allowed our congregation to hold flagship services celebrating our children and youth, LGBTQ+ Pride, and Flower Communion outdoors in the parking lot, with full access and interactive participation from remote attendees. Since then, I\'ve continued to work with the Board and professional staff to establish, improve, and sustain our fully participatory hybrid services so that they remain a permanent part of our worship offerings, including advocating for the hire of a tech support person for Sunday morning services and performing ongoing troubleshooting and visioning for our A/V system in addition to my work as a musician.

Education

• Saint Mary's School, Raleigh, NC

  High School Diploma, High Honors

  2007 — 2011

• San Francisco Conservatory of Music

  Adult Extension - Vocal Performance Class

  2016 — 2017

• New England Conservatory of Music

  Master of Music, Vocal Pedagogy

  2018 — 2020

• Pomona College

  Bachelor of Arts (B.A.), Music

  2011 — 2015