Working Life: Good Vibrations choir helps patients find a new voice

Dr Trish Rooney, vocal lecturer at MTU Cork School of Music, vocal rehabilitation specialist and founder of the Good Vibrations Choir

Fri, 01 May, 2026 - 02:00

Catherine Shanahan

“I’m obsessed with training the voice and being as effective a voice teacher as I can be. My doctorate focused on vocal pedagogy, and I’ve been teaching at MTU Cork School of Music on the BA in popular music and MA programmes for 10 years. I love my job.

“In recent years, I decided to train as a voice rehabilitation specialist, to work with anyone who is experiencing vocal weakness, fatigue or changes following surgery, illness, or voice disorder.

“As part of my voice clinic observations at the South Infirmary Hospital, Eimear Hannigan, one of the speech and language therapists, asked if I’d heard of a British laryngectomy choir called Shout at Cancer. After looking them up on YouTube, I immediately wanted to set one up here in Cork, so I contacted Dr Thomas Moors, the ear, nose and throat consultant, who set up the choir, and asked for his guidance. I wanted to make sure I had all the right tools to make sessions as effective as possible. Our choir, Good Vibrations, was up and running by September 2024.

“Participants have had their larynx removed (laryngectomy), often due to cancer. It’s a devastating, life-changing surgery. In addition to the numerous challenges in relation to speech rehabilitation and voice production as a result of surgery, tracheoesophageal speech requires a lot more breath than normal speech, so increasing lung strength, working on breathing, voicing, articulation and tongue movement are major components in restoring communication.

We build confidence and work on this through fun methods and exploration using things like beat-boxing techniques, mimicking everyday sounds, small pitch glides and songs chosen by the participants.

“We had our first performance at the Irish Head and Neck Cancer morning at the Maryborough House Hotel in 2024, accompanied by some students from the School of Music, and it has grown from there. I have presented the work at conferences in Seattle and London and the choir also performed alongside the Shout at Cancer Choir for their 10-year anniversary concert in London last October.

“Good Vibrations will be taking part on May 9 next in a tribute concert to Joe Corbett, a Cork-born opera singer who passed away last year. It will be the choir’s first appearance on the stage of the Cork Opera House.”