Ana Flavia Zuim

Dr. Ana Flavia Zuim is an internationally recognized voice scientist, conductor, pianist, musical director, and forensic voice expert whose work bridges the art and science of human communication. She is Associate Music Professor in Vocal Performance at New York University Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development and holds a secondary appointment at the NYU Langone Voice Center within the Department of Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery.

Dr. Zuim’s research focuses on vocal dosimetry, vocal acoustics, singer perception, hydration science, Contemporary Commercial Music pedagogy, immersive virtual reality in singing training, and forensic voice analysis. Her work has been featured by CBS and has contributed to advances in both voice science and performance practice. As a scholar and educator, she is particularly interested in the intersection of artistic expression, physiology, acoustics, emerging technologies, and data-driven approaches to voice training and assessment.

Having learned English after the age of 23, Dr. Zuim developed a deep interest in the acoustic impact of accent, prosody, and speech inflection in both spoken and sung voice. Her doctoral dissertation, Speech Inflection in American Musical Theatre Compositions, was developed in collaboration with prominent Broadway composers and explored how language patterns shape musical expression and vocal delivery. That research focused on patterns of speech expression and vocal behavior, which led to her continued work studying the acoustic characteristics of the human voice.

An internationally active lecturer, clinician, conductor, and researcher, Dr. Zuim has presented keynote addresses, seminars, performances, and masterclasses across North and South America, Europe, the Middle East, Asia, Africa, and Australia, including invitations and engagements in Israel, Turkey, Greece, Japan, Taiwan, China, Thailand, Brazil, Italy, Canada, The Netherlands, Mexico and Scotland. Recent international activities have included conducting engagements in Arezzo, Italy, and Beijing, China, invited presentations in Mexico City and The Hague, and keynote appearances for the Israeli Voice Association and major international conferences in voice, acoustics, and forensic phonetics. She currently serves as President of the Pan American Vocology Association after previously serving as Latin American Governor.

In addition to her academic and research work, Dr. Zuim maintains an active career in musical theatre and commercial music performance. With more than 70 musical theatre productions to her credit, her Broadway and national tour affiliations include Hamilton, Billy Elliot, Wicked, Matilda, Kinky Boots, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Annie, and The Sound of Music. Her work as a conductor and musical director has earned multiple awards and national recognition, including the IRNE Award for Best Musical Direction and two American Prize awards in conducting.

Dr. Zuim also specializes in forensic voice analysis and has served as an expert witness in speaker identification and criminal voice evidence cases. Her forensic work applies acoustic-phonetic methodology and data-driven analysis to questions of speaker comparison, intelligibility, and evidentiary interpretation, contributing to scientifically grounded approaches within the legal system.

Prior to joining NYU, Dr. Zuim served as Director of Contemporary Voice at the Frost School of Music and as Lecturer in Otolaryngology at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, where she helped pioneer interdisciplinary initiatives in contemporary voice pedagogy and vocal health. She previously served as Director of Vocal Performance at NYU Steinhardt from 2016 to 2022, where she led a large-scale vocal performance program encompassing more than 200 students and over 50 faculty and staff, while expanding interdisciplinary and contemporary commercial music initiatives within the department.

Dr. Zuim is the recipient of the 2024 Van Lawrence Fellowship awarded jointly by The Voice Foundation and the NATS Foundation Heritage Fund, as well as NYU’s Technology and Acceleration Commercialization Program Grant supporting research in voice mapping technologies.

Dr. Zuim holds degrees from the State University of Londrina, Lynn University, and Florida Atlantic University, as well as a Vocology Certificate from the University of Utah.