Croatian National Theatre in Zagreb and the Department of Phonetics Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences University of Zagreb are marking World Voice Day with a workshop for voice professionals titled Voice and Speech in Theatre: How to Care for Them, Prepare Them, and Use Them, followed by a performance of the opera The Human Voice. The program begins on Thursday, April 16, 2026, at 3:30 PM in the Tonstudio Hall of the Croatian National Theatre in Zagreb with the workshop which was designed by Ines Carović and Iva Bašić, with the participation of phonetics students.

The workshop is intended for Opera and Drama fellows, as well as for all performers and professionals who use their voice and speech professionally or intensively. Participants will have the opportunity to become familiar with the basics of vocal hygiene, techniques of vocal warm-up, and principles of sustainable voice and speech use in a performance context. Through practical exercises and examples, topics will include recognizing vocal strain, preparing the voice for performance, and developing healthier and more efficient vocal habits.

The event continues at 5:00 PM with an operatic program marking World Voice Day, featuring two performances of the opera The Human Voice presented in the same time slot.

The audience will experience the same opera in two different interpretations: the first performed by Dubravka Šeparović Mušović, and the second by Ivana Lazar. Both performances are included in a single ticket, with no intermission between them.

The opera The Human Voice by the French composer Francis Poulenc (1958) is based on the one-act play of the same name by Jean Cocteau (1930), who also directed and designed the scenography for the opera’s premiere. The plot follows a telephone conversation between a woman (referred to in the opera simply as “She”) and her former lover, who is leaving her for another woman. The Human Voice has been staged by the prominent Croatian dramaturge Sanja Ivić.

World Voice Day highlights the importance of the voice as a fundamental means of expression, communication, and artistic performance, while also drawing attention to its sensitivity and the need for proper and sustainable use in professional practice.