EXPLORING YOUR VOICE has the power to open up new ways of understanding its capabilities, which can help people move beyond long-held habits or limitations.

As a voice lecturer and director of the Good Vibrations choir, whose members’ voice boxes were removed as a result of Head and Neck Cancer, I’ve witnessed this firsthand.

One of our members Noel, said, “The choir is an opportunity to show the world that we can still have a voice and that cancer can be beaten”.

Good Vibrations is Ireland’s first laryngectomy choir. Laryngectomy is the surgical removal of the larynx (voice box), usually performed in patients with advanced stages of throat cancer. The impact of losing the voice can be devastating to a person’s identity, mental health, family and work life, with many reporting a need to overcome depression and social isolation.

The choir grew from a simple but powerful idea: singing could offer something meaningful to people living with the profound changes to voice and identity following total laryngectomy.

Inspired by the trailblazing work of Dr Thomas Moors and the “Shout At Cancer” choir in the UK, and sparked by a conversation during an educational visit to a surgical voice restoration clinic at the South Infirmary – Victoria University Hospital (SIVUH), Good Vibrations was created.

With the help of the Speech and Language Therapy Team at the SIVUH, our first rehearsal took place in September 2024, marking the beginning of a journey built on connection, creativity, learning and plenty of craic. From the outset, the choir became a space not only for vocal exploration but for camaraderie, peer support and shared confidence-building.

Healing through music

The group worked on articulation, phonation, breathing, small pitch glides and beatboxing techniques. The rhythmic, playful and explorative approach made the work we carried out in the choir a useful tool to motivate members. It encouraged members to practice coordination in voicing and improve intelligibility, all while having fun.

The choir’s first public performance, a significant milestone, was at the SIVUH Head and Neck Patient Information Day in November 2024. Since then, the impact of Good Vibrations has continued to grow. We continue to work on body relaxation, stretching, activating support muscles and playing with different tensions in the body, breathing, mimicking everyday sounds and beatboxing, as well as whatever songs we are going to perform at upcoming events.

We are incredibly lucky to have the opportunity to perform alongside a wonderful band at the Cork Opera House on 9 May. The stellar line-up of musicians includes Mary Hegarty, Majella Cullagh, Molly Lynch and many more for the celebration of the life of Joe. We are so grateful to be part of this wonderful concert and all in aid of the Irish Cancer Society.

“Good Vibrations” has attracted growing national and international interest, and the choir, joined by some students from the MTU Cork School of Music BA in Popular Music, performed at the Irish Head and Neck Cancer Society Conference last April.

In October 2025, we were honoured to join the Shout At Cancer choir on stage in London for their 10-year anniversary concert in King’s Place, celebrating collaboration, solidarity and the global laryngectomy choir community with participants from London, France, Belgium and Ireland. Good Vibrations stands as a testament to the courage, openness and generosity of the participants themselves.

Support matters

Huge thanks are owed to the Speech and Language department at the South Infirmary for their continuous support and collaboration. This experience continually reminds me of the resilience of the human voice and the importance of community, patience and creativity in rehabilitation.

Interviews with choir members have revealed deeply positive outcomes, including increased confidence in their new voices. Mike, a choir member, said: “The choir gave me back my confidence that I had lost after the laryngectomy. You take the voice for granted until you don’t have it.”

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Another choir member, Paddy, said, “I miss my old voice. My group of friends have adapted to it, but it’s difficult to go into a shop. I used to avoid groups if there’s too many people – people don’t know how to relate to me. It’s effortful and draining. Now I want to go into a big crowd. This has been great to get to know about other people’s experiences as well.”

Alongside these personal experiences, clinical measurements of tracheoesophageal – throat-voice function – have shown improvements in sustained sound production and syllables per breath, representing meaningful physiological change as well as psychological benefit.

I am profoundly grateful to every person who has taken part — their willingness to explore, experiment and step into something new is what makes this work possible.

I believe voice work should be encouraging and enjoyable. Alongside focused, evidence-informed exercises, my sessions often include imagination, movement, playful exploration and the freedom to think a little differently. At its core, the sessions are about progress and possibility.

We would love new members, so if you are reading this and know of anyone who has experienced laryngectomy and would like to try something new, explore possibilities and have a bit of fun, get in touch.

Trish Rooney is a voice lecturer at MTU Cork School of Music and a voice rehabilitation specialist who loves helping people reconnect with their voices in a positive, practical, and hopeful way. To book tickets to Good Vibrations’ upcoming performance, visit https://www.corkoperahouse.ie/whats-on/joe-corbett-a-celebration/. Proceeds from the performance are in aid of the Irish Cancer Society.