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Rocky Sansom

Assistant Professor of Voice
Associate Head of MFA Acting 

 

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Biography

Rockford Sansom is an Assistant Professor of Voice at Louisiana State University, Associate Head of the MFA Acting program, and the voice coach of LSU’s resident theatre, Swine Palace. As a voice and accent coach, his Off-Broadway credits include York Theatre Company and Theater for the New City. Regional credits include the Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey, Premiere Stages, and the Savannah Repertory Theatre. He has coached Fortune 500 executives, UN delegates, TED Talks, and members of the US Congress. His acting credits include leading roles in Wonderful Town (First National tour), 42nd Street (Asian tour), Bye Bye Birdie (North American tour), and The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe (Off-Broadway, St. Luke’s Theatre). Regional credits include Seaside Music Theater, the Orlando Repertory Theatre, and the Oklahoma Shakespeare Festival.

He holds a PhD in education (Capella University), an MFA in theatre (University of Central Florida), and voice certifications from Fitzmaurice, Knight-Thompson, and Estill (Master Trainer). For six years, he was the Editor of the academic journal Voice and Speech Review (Routledge Press), and he has published in Theatre, Dance and Performance Training; Journal of Singing; Methods, and others. He has published two books, The History of Voice Pedagogy and Vocal Traditions (both with Routledge). His current book project is Voice Work: Art and Science in Changing Voices (2nd ed., Wiley-Blackwell)—a leading text in the field of vocal training, currently in use worldwide in high-profile music and theatre schools and speech pathology training programs.

Dr. Sansom has lectured and held workshops at universities across Europe, Asia, South America, and Australia. He is the recipient of the Awards to Louisiana Artists and Scholars (ATLAS) grant and the Dorothy Mennen Research Grant. Member: AEA, SAG-AFTRA. VASTA.