Voice DNA: Freedom, Connection and Play Through Voice

Voice DNA: Freedom, Connection and Play Through Voice

A playful exploration of the voice, designed to help you feel more free, spontaneous and connected in how you sound and relate to others.

This workshop offers a balance of creative exploration and clear facilitation, combining vocal improvisation, listening skills, and group awareness.

No previous improvisation experience is needed.

What is Voice DNA?

Voice DNA is an approach to voice that focuses less on singing “well” and more on feeling free, alive, and connected through sound.

It’s a way of exploring your natural voice through play, listening, and interaction, so that expression becomes both personal and collective.

Rather than working towards a fixed idea of how you should sound, we explore questions like:

• What does my voice feel like when I’m not overthinking it?
• How can I stay connected to myself while sounding with others?
• When does my voice feel comfortable, expressive, or surprising?
• What becomes possible when I treat voice as something to explore, rather than control?

Led by Uran Apak, an Istanbul-born, London-based artist, facilitator, and co-founder of the UK Vocal Improv Festival, Voice DNA has been developed and refined since 2015, through workshops, performances, and community practice with hundreds of participants across the UK and abroad.

What to expect

We’ll make our way through a series of simple games, exercises and improvisational prompts to explore:

• Warming up the voice in a relaxed, accessible way
• Listening and responding in the moment
• Letting go of overthinking and trusting your instincts
• Singing with others without needing to “get it right”
• Finding ease, range, and expression in your natural voice

The session moves between guided exercises, improvisation games, collaborative vocal improvisation (with loop station), gentle movement, and shared reflection, building confidence step by step.

Why this practice?

Many of us have experience using the voice, but less experience playing with it freely.

This approach helps to:

• Develop confidence and flexibility in your voice
• Strengthen listening and ensemble awareness
• Open up new creative possibilities
• Bring more ease and joy into singing

For facilitators and practitioners, the work also offers tools, approaches, and inspiration that can be adapted into your own sessions.

Who this is for

• Anyone curious about vocal improvisation and group singing
• Choir members and regular singers who want a more playful, less structured way of singing
• Facilitators, music leaders, and space holders looking for new approaches and ideas
• People who want to feel more confident, expressive, and at ease in their voice

Whether you’re experienced or just starting out, you’ll be able to take part at your own level.

A note on the space

You’re invited to participate at your own pace.
There’s no pressure to sing solo, and you’re always welcome to step back and observe when needed.

The focus is on creating a supportive environment where people can try things out, take small risks, and enjoy the process.

Details

Location: Nailsworth Town Hall - The lower room / Old Bristol Road, Nailsworth, Gloucestershire, GL6 0JF
Time: Sunday, 7th June, 3-6PM (including a 15-minute break and tea at the end)
Investment: £40 (£50 Abundant and £30 Low Income options are also available)

Notes

Car parking is free for 4 hours in the adjacent car park. There is one disabled parking space. Alternative and longer-stay parking options are available in Nailsworth town centre.

Unfortunately the lower room where the event will take place is not accessible for people with mobility issues, access is via an internal staircase or external steps.

The session will include both seated and standing/moving activities. Chairs will be provided, and you’re welcome to adapt the exercises to your needs, choosing whether to sit or stand at any point.

I can't offer refunds because of limited capacity but you can transfer your ticket to someone else.

About your facilitator

Uran Apak is an artist and facilitator working at the intersection of music, improvisation, and embodied practice.

He is co-founder of the UK Vocal Improv Collective and part of the team behind the annual UK Vocal Improv Festival, one of the UK’s leading spaces for collaborative, improvised voice practice. Over the past decade, he has facilitated workshops, jams, and performances for hundreds of participants across the UK, creating spaces where voice becomes a tool for connection, play, and transformation.

Alongside his facilitation work, Uran maintains an active artistic practice as a singer, composer, and live performer. His work spans solo releases, interdisciplinary collaborations, and performances at the Vortex Jazz Club, Southbank Centre, Roundhouse, Somerset House and Glastonbury Festival. His approach is shaped not only by music, but by ongoing explorations in movement, visual art, and embodied practice.

As a facilitator, he creates spaces that feel playful, creatively free and deeply held, blending vocal improvisation and community-based practice to support honest and curious exploration.

What participants say

“Uran created a wonderfully honest, trusting and exploratory environment. The workshop helped me play with my voice in new ways and my ears were in awe of the tapestry of sound we created altogether.”
Dear Wife (musician)

“A totally beautiful, heart-opening, playful and joyful journey into the world of voice improvisation… he not only creates supportive conditions through instruction but also embodies the very thing he is trying to evoke: a deep ease and openness.”
Jody

“So wonderfully, delightfully brilliant. Recently at a jam session I found myself on the mic and not giving a f**k what anyone thought, all thanks to Uran's sessions.”
Louise