Mass. Eye and Ear to Celebrate Bill Designating Annual Recognition of World Voice Week in Massachusetts

Special guests include WEEI's Gerry Callahan

BOSTON, April 25, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Preserving voices to help people fully experience life has been a Mass. Eye and Ear tradition for more than a century. Now the Massachusetts Legislature has passed bill S. 2107, An Act Designating World Voice Week, to raise awareness of this important sense.

The bill, which was initiated by members of the World Voice Week Committee, which include Mass. Eye and Ear Director of Laryngology Dr. Ramon A. Franco, Jr., and Mr. Frank Carroll, Chairman of the Massachusetts Voice Week Committee, will be signed by Governor Deval Patrick on April 24 at the State House. In celebration of the bill signing, and the designation of World Voice Week, Mass. Eye and Ear will hold a celebration at 2:30 p.m. on Thursday, April 26 in the Mass. Eye and Ear main hospital building lobby at 243 Charles Street in Boston.

Special guests include Gerry Callahan, throat cancer survivor and host of the Dennis and Callahan Show on WEEI sports radio; Mr. Carroll, who is also a Mass. Eye and Ear Trustee, throat cancer survivor and laryngectomee; and Andrew Clark, Director of Choral Activities and Senior Lecturer on Music at Harvard University, all of whom will share their perspective as professional voice users.

Tanglewood Festival Chorus members, mezzo-soprano Cindy Vredeveld, a Mass. Eye and Ear employee, and mezzo-soprano Lauren A. Boice, will provide entertainment.

All are welcome to this inspiring program to celebrate the gift of voice.

About Mass. Eye and Ear
Founded in 1824, Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary is an independent specialty hospital providing patient care for disorders of the eye, ear, nose, throat, head and neck. Mass. Eye and Ear is an international leader in Ophthalmology and Otolaryngology research and a teaching partner of Harvard Medical School. In 2011 the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary and Schepens Eye Research Institute formed the world's largest and most robust private basic and clinical ophthalmology research enterprise. For more information, call 617-523-7900 or visit http://www.masseyeandear.org/. For information on Laryngology at Mass. Eye and Ear, visit http://www.masseyeandear.org/specialties/otolaryngology/laryngology/.

Background on Bill S.2107 and the Proclamation of World Voice Week
On Thursday, April 12, 2012, the Massachusetts Legislature passed bill S. 2107, An Act Designating World Voice Week. This bill, which was introduced in the legislature by Sen. Michael Moore and co-sponsored by Sen. Harriette Chandler, Representative John Binienda, and Rep. James O'Day, will annually set aside the week of April 16 for World Voice Week in Massachusetts.

World Voice Week has three important purposes:

First, it will raise awareness about individuals suffering from voice disabilities;

Second, it will honor medical professionals who devote their careers to treating voice disability patients;

Last, it will raise awareness about voice disability prevention and treatment throughout the medical community and the public at large.

SOURCE Mass. Eye and Ear