Born and raised in Hong Kong, Crystal Lau-Neuhaus, M.M., M.S., earned her Master of Music degree in Voice Performance, specializing in Voice Science and Pedagogy, at Bowling Green State University (BGSU). She received her Bachelor of Musical Arts (B.M.A.) degree in dual major: Music and Communications at DePauw University. Her studio studies included Myra Merritt-Grant, Sujin Lee, Hubert Weller, Alisa Suzanne Jordheim, Stephen Ng, and Pamela Coburn.
Crystal was La Chatte/Le Pâtre/L’Ecureuil from Ravel’s L’Enfant et les sortileges (Franco-American Vocal Academy, Périgueux, France), Fury in How to Reform a Drunk (modified from Gluck’s L’ivrogne corrigé) and Dragonfly in Yimin Yiu’s Double-Sided. She was also a soloist in Durante’s Magnificat and a featured performer in PRECEPTA’s New Music Concert in 2016, Contemporary Aria Concert in 2020, BGSU World Voice Day Concerts (2018, 2019), as well as Naturalization Ceremonies (2017, 2019).
Her passion for vocal health came from her very own journey with LPR (laryngopharyngeal reflux). Managing her own symptoms for more than 10 years, she noticed the disconnect between the medical professionals and the voice educators. That led her to complete her second master’s degree in Interdisciplinary Studies, combining coursework in Speech-Language Pathology and Music, at BGSU.
A voice teacher.
Crystal has more than three years of voice teaching; her students include young children, college students, and mature students wanting to study music. Three of her students were accepted into BGSU College of Musical Arts’ undergraduate program. In 2020, she worked as an Adjunct Instructor at Owens Community College (Perrysburg, Ohio).
She firmly believes in empowerment in learning; when they leave the studio, she encourages them to take ownership of their very own instruments. In lessons, she makes an effort to educate students on how to take care of their voices, as well as the anatomical and physiological aspects of voice production.
Crystal found her love for voice science research when collaborating with Ronald C. Scherer, Ph.D. She has worked with Scherer during 2018-2021 at The Voice Laboratories at Bowling Green State University. Her research interests include singing performance, pedagogical approach, symptomatic effects of laryngopharyngeal reflux (LPR), as well as vocal health.
Since joining Scherer’s laboratory, Crystal had the opportunities to share her research with a broad audience base, including singers, voice teachers, researchers, and medical professionals. She was the winner of the 2020 Three Minute Thesis (3MT) Competition, and had presented at the Voice Foundation Symposium and the Pan-American Vocology Association (PAVA) Symposium. In 2021, she and Scherer published Objective Measures of Two Musical Interpretations of an Excerpt From Berlioz’s “La mort d’Ophélie” on the Journal of Voice.
Crystal currently holds memberships at The Voice Foundation and the Pan American Vocology Association (PAVA). In addition, she is a member of PAVA’s Diversity Committee.
(My Voice Blox = Larynx, aka. My voice box + My Soap Box. Get it?)
A fitness instructor!
Crystal is a certified Group Fitness Instructor and ZUMBA ® Instructor. With the American Council on Exercise (ACE Fitness) certification, she taught ZUMBA®, Aqua ZUMBA®, dance fitness, and older adult aqua dance fitness.
