Berton Coffin (1910-1987) was a concert baritone, pedagogue and author. He earned his B.A. at Earlham College (1932) and went on to Chicago Musical College where he earned a B.A. in Music (1935). He then received a Master of Music degree from Eastman School of Music (1938). He received a second Masters (1946) and a Ph.D. (1950) from Columbia University in New York City. He also studied at the Julliard School of Music. After singing professionally in New York City, Dr. Coffin began teaching at the University of Colorado and remained there for many years. With a combined total of 59 years in teaching and arts administration, he and his wife Milly were the first dual recipients of the Robert L. Stearns Award for distinguished service to the University of Colorado. He also established the first DMA in voice and pedagogy, which was a first. The other DMAs at the time did not include a pedagogical component. His degree had a required course in voice science, as well as a substantial paper on a pedagogical topic as one of six doctoral projects.
While teaching at CU Boulder, Coffin took an acoustics course from renowned acoustician Pierre Delattre at the Aero-Space Institute. This sparked his avid interest in the science of acoustics and how it relates to the voice. He also taught physics during WWII in the Army Specialized Training Program. Dr. Coffin was one of the first voice teachers to begin actively applying and explaining the science of vocal acoustics in his teaching. (see his “favorable vowel chart” below).
Vowel Chart – 1973. From University of Colorado Boulder (https://www.colorado.edu/libraries/2018/05/22/archives-berton-coffin)
In addition to his pedagogical contributions, Dr. Coffin was extremely active in the National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS). During his lifetime, he served as President of NATS and was also on the Board of Directors for 11 years. Some of the highlights of his time as president include the establishment of the New York office, the initial efforts to institute a non-taxable organization, and the reorganization of the Singer of the Year to be known as the NATS Artist Awards. He also devoted time to growing the organization. Membership went up 32% while he was serving as president.
Berton Coffin authored a total of eleven books. They include a composite of his column in the NATS Journal (Historical Vocal Pedagogy Classics) and many repertoire books for singers. His notable printed works on the subject of vocal acoustics are Sounds of Singing and Overtones of Bel Canto.
Dr. Coffin retired in May 1977, and was named Professor Emeritus and, along with his wife Mildred, received the Robert L. Stearns Award for distinguished service to the University of Colorado. After moving to Europe, the Coffins established a private vocal studio in Vienna and Dr. Coffin joined the Voice Faculty of the American Institute of Musical Studies in Graz, Austria, while also serving as a visiting professor at the University of Cincinnati and Southern Methodist University.
Dr. Coffin was a mentor to students and pedagogues over the years, including Shirlee Emmons, Barbara Doscher, Patti Peterson, and many more. In May 1985, Coffin moved back to Boulder, Colorado, due to health issues. There, he continued his work as a private consultant and kept writing educational materials until his passing in January 1987. He was given the first “Distinguished Faculty” award posthumously by the College of Music faculty in 1987.
Quotes on Berton Coffin
Dr. Patti Peterson, formerly director of voice pedagogy and a member of the applied voice faculty at The University of Colorado at Boulder:
Berton Coffin was a fascinating person. I often accompanied his students and also had some voice lessons with him when I became a singer, so I knew his teaching well. His studio was filled with gadgets such as an oscilloscope, whistle worms that he used to demonstrate harmonics, and a device he invented called the Echo-Phone. The singer would hold a small microphone to the throat while forming a vowel silently. Dr. Coffin had the microphone attached to a tiny keyboard, the type you’d find in the 1970s, and he would play a pitch, which would produce the vowel sound. He and the student would then monkey around with the vowel until the keyboard produced it clearly. Only THEN did the student actually get to sing the sound! His main focus was on perfecting resonance and he was very good at it, but he also encouraged artistic, musical singing, not just great vowels. Dr. Coffin also had a wonderful sense of humor. He enjoyed golf and liked to wear a golf hat decorated with bits of tubing and gizmos from his Echo-Phone. He taught pedagogy before most singers even knew what voice science was, often to a class of skeptics, many of whom became believers after hearing his lectures on acoustics of the larynx. He was kind in his grading, as he understood how new the science was to most singers. He produced a number of very fine voice teachers and singers who carry on his legacy today.
Julieta Garcia, American Music Research Center:
Dr. Coffin’s deeply caring teaching style and uncompromising attention to the personal growth of each (of) his students, along with his keen sense of integrity and passion for voice research and development, are now the basis of teaching for the Voice Faculty.
References
*We would like to thank Marty Coffin Evans and Dr. Patti Peterson for their invaluable contribution to this article.