Freedom & Focus Conference 2025:  ‘Voice Is Action’

What does “Voice Is Action” mean to you? This July, join us for a transformative gathering where voice meets action, creativity, and connection.

Venue: Toi Whakaari: New Zealand Drama School, Wellington, Aotearoa New Zealand

Date: 31 July - 3 August 2025 

Full Price: $350USD/$560NZD
One Day Attendance Only: $70USD/$115NZD
Student Price: $150 USD/$NZD240
Student One Day Attendance Only: $30USD/$50NZD

REGISTER HERE

Travel and accommodation are each participant's responsibility.

Are you a Fitzmaurice teacher? Trem only dates are 30 July & 4 August - register here

LINKS FOR MORE:

• TREM DAYS PAGE - Certified Fitzmaurice Voicework® Teachers.

• The CONFERENCE TEAM!

• THE CONFERENCE BOOKLET with travel suggestions and tentative schedule and more.

• SCHEDULE at a glance - subject to change

Nau mai, haere mai ki Aotearoa. Welcome, welcome to Aotearoa New Zealand, for four days of rich and challenging learning and exchange.  Our hosts for the conference are the staff and students of Toi Whakaari: NZ Drama School, Aotearoa’s premier drama training institution. Learning at the school draws from indigenous models of tikanga, creating a training institution that is unique in the world.

It’s been an invigorating and uplifting time this month as the proposals for workshops and performances at Freedom and Focus in Aotearoa have rolled in. Offers to present work and share research have come from all over the globe.  The conference scheduling team of Micha Espinosa, Lynn Watson, Rachel Finley, Amy Chaffee and Julia Moody are drawing these proposals together into an amazing programme for Freedom and Focus participants. Some elements of the Conference are consistent:

Every day we will begin with a karakia and waiata (a Māori prayer and a song), this initiates an opportunity to collectively share our thoughts and perspectives on the theme for the day. Morning discussions will weave in the knowledge of our kaumātua, senior practitioners and invited guests. Each day the workshops will explore different aspects of our theme ‘Voice Is Action’, and as always, you can select the workshops that you are drawn to. At the close of day, there is an opportunity to rest and digest what we have experienced, and we close with karakia and waiata. Each night, the Performance Festival will showcase work from our fellow Trems and local performers.

Day 1 Collaboration in Action On our first day together we ground ourselves and arrive fully at Toi Whakaari through the process of a pōwhiri (Māori welcoming ceremony). Drawing inspiration from this ceremony, we will be guided by Mana Whenua (the People of the Land) renew our relationships,as we forge new connections to arrive fully at Freedom and Focus in body, mind and spirit. Later in the day we will be guided by a kaumātua to a deeper understanding of what underpins this process.

Day 2 The Teacher and Coach in Action On the second day we embrace our roles as teachers and coaches: what is required of us in this relationship? What inspires or confines us?  How do we map progress in our students and ourselves, and what can that mean for us? 

Day 3 The Performer in Action On the third day we examine how Fitzmaurice Voicework inspires the performer and connects us inwardly to our creativity, and also how it connects us outwardly to other methodologies and sources of learning. To make our practice and that of our students sustainable, we explore holistic approaches to nourish our creative action.

Day 4 The Changemaker in Action During the final day, we turn towards how we can use our voices in this world - right now. What is the role of advocacy and how can we support positive, creative, conscious change? At the end of the day, we will gather to say farewell, breathing out together.

We can’t wait to welcome you to Aotearoa and the Conference.

Perry and the Conference Planning Team

Highlights of the event:

• Dive into workshops and performances led by certified Fitzmaurice Voicework® teachers and local artists.

• Explore how voice can inspire creativity, foster personal growth, and drive social change.

• Experience the seamless integration of breath, body, and voice, central to Fitzmaurice Voicework®.

• Set in the vibrant city of Wellington, “the world’s coolest capital,” this conference is a celebration of diverse voices and the transformative potential of vocal expression.