Behind the Project

My Inspiration

In society today, transgender and gender-expansive (TGE) individuals face a disproportionate amount of hardship than their cisgender peers. The world seems reluctant to understand and accept their identities, and this manifests in countless ways, big and small. From something as seemingly innocuous as ignoring one’s correct pronouns or their chosen name to the plethora of anti-trans legislation that has become far too commonplace in recent years, TGE individuals are forced to justify their very existence on a regular basis.

Unfortunately, the choral community is not immune to this reality. Historically, singers—and choirs more specifically—have operated in a strikingly gendered arena. Everything from voice part to the clothes singers wear is fraught with the divisions of the traditional gender binary. While the inclusion of TGE individuals has become a more visible and increasingly discussed topic in recent years at many regional and national choral conferences—featuring interest sessions on terminology, potential vocal changes, and other accommodations such as inclusive choral attire and identity-affirming choral placement, there is still a lack of actionable, pedagogically-based tools that directors can use in their rehearsals and performances.  

For instance, while I was teaching in public schools and before I was “out” as transgender, I frequently saw the struggle of my TGE students as they tried to reconcile where their voices fit in the ensemble with their gender identity. Some wanted to sing a lower part than they were capable, some a higher one, but in either case, they likely wouldn’t be able to sing everything their desired voice part in an SATB ensemble demanded of them. Then, as I began to research this topic during my doctoral studies, I realized: What if there was a line that choristers could sing in-between tenor and alto to help these singers feel more comfortable being authentic?

After exploring the idea, it became clear that the existence of such a line could make a significant impact on TGE individuals’ experiences, and it would only require a simple reapplication of a skill that directors already have. This idea led to a new methodology that I call line recombination. Building off of the adaptations made by middle school choir directors to vocal lines and the frequent doublings of different voice parts employed by conductors such as Robert Shaw, I created a set of parameters that directors can follow to create a new vocal line from the existing alto and tenor lines: one that isn’t constricted by the gendered norms of traditional sections and supports singers before, during, and after vocal transition. Through the recombination of vocal lines in their repertoire, choral directors can help to combat the potential bias and uncertainty surrounding the inclusion of transgender and gender-expansive (trans) singers in choral ensembles by providing an alternative that can meet the vocal needs of those individuals without compromising musical integrity. 

Get Involved!

To alleviate the burden on choir directors of creating each recombined line on their own, I created the Recombined Choral Library (RCL) a free, crowdsourced database of singable, inclusive vocal lines that are suitable for any singer, regardless of gender identity or stage of transition. The project may be in its early stages, but there are a number of ways you can be involved!

About the Founder

Stevie J. Hirner, D.M.A., (she/her) is a choral conductor, composer, singer, and educator who specializes in cultivating transgender and gender expansive inclusivity in singing through empathetic practices and science-informed vocal pedagogy. As a transgender musician and one of the leading researchers in her field, Dr. Hirner is a sought-after lecturer and clinician at universities and professional conferences. Her article discussing her gender inclusive methodology, “Line Recombination,” appeared in the November/December 2022 issue of the Choral Journal. To supplement her research, Hirner has also launched the crowdsourced Recombined Choral Library at her website www.transitioningvoices.org where recombined lines can be created and accessed by the public. Her recent professional conference interest sessions include presentations on her line recombination methodology at the 2022 Western ACDA Regional Conference, the 2023 ACDA National Conference, and the 2023 World Symposium on Choral Music in Istanbul. In 2024, Dr. Hirner introduced her new gender affirming singing protocol, “Flexible Fach,” at five out of the six Regional Conferences of the American Choral Directors Association in Spring 2024, which was also the focus of her doctoral dissertation, (Trans)itioning Voices: Gender Expansive Vocal Pedagogy and Inclusive Methodologies for Choral Directors and Teachers of Singing.

Dr. Hirner completed her Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Choral Music at the University of Southern California (USC) with secondary emphases in Music Theory and Analysis, Vocology, and Gender and Sexuality Studies in 2024, and she joined the faculty at the University of Montana (UM) in the fall of the same year as the Interim Director of Choral Activities. Prior to her position at UM, Dr. Hirner was a lecturer in Choral and Voice Methods at California State University - Long Beach, and in July of 2024, she ended her four-year tenure as the Artistic Director of the Long Beach Youth Chorus. During her studies at USC from 2020-24, she was the lead conductor for the USC Thornton Apollo Chorus and the University Chorus in addition to teaching Choral Conducting I/II to undergraduate and graduate students. 

During her six years of experience as a public school teacher, Dr. Hirner worked at Collins Academy High School in Chicago from 2014-16, where she built a choir program that included an 80-member beginning choir, 30-member honor choir, and a general music class. After Chicago, Dr. Hirner taught middle and high school choir in South Florida from 2016-20—directing the choral program and teaching AP Music Theory at Santaluces Community High School for one year and serving as the Associate Choral Director at Miami Arts Charter School (MAC) for three years. At MAC, she directed three middle school ensembles and two high school ensembles while also assisting with the school’s vocal jazz program and founding the school’s first contemporary a cappella ensemble. In addition to teaching, Dr. Hirner also worked as the Artistic Administrator for the 2016-17 season with the Florida Singing Sons Boychoir and was the associate conductor for the Master Chorale of South Florida (MCSF) from 2016-20 where she was recognized by the South Florida Classical Review for “[maintaining] a flowing line and [bringing] clarity to the contrapuntal writing” while directing “Wie lieblich sind deine Wohnungen” from Brahms’ Ein deutsches Requiem. 

While pursuing her Bachelor of Music Education degree in Vocal Music at Auburn University from 2008-12, Dr. Hirner founded and directed her own a cappella group (AU Cappella), the first of its kind at the school and also served as a student conductor for the university’s Men’s Chorus. Then, while earning her Master of Music degree in Choral Conducting at the University of Missouri from 2012-14, she directed the School of Music’s jazz choir, Hitt Street Harmony, which premiered many of her arrangements, conducted the University Singers in a premiere of one of her original compositions entitled “Resurget,” served as the chorus master for a production of Mozart’s Cosí Fan Tutte, worked as the music director for the First Christian Church in Centralia, Missouri, and directed Ars Nova—a select mixed-voice ensemble at the University of Missouri—in the annual Art and Music Performance that consisted of pieces selected to correspond with works of art in the university’s art museum.

Photographer: Natalie Costello