Six years ago, Deena Kamm attended a chakra-balancing workshop for the first time. She came home and pushed play on a YouTube sound bath on her smartphone, when an article popped into her feed and altered the course of her career.

The article was written by award-winning Canadian writer, story editor, former TV development executive and teacher Anne Fenn. It detailed the gut-wrenching effects of Fenn losing her speaking voice for a year.

It was immediately apparent to Kamm that she and Fenn were destined to work together.

Kamm is a voice coach — in addition to a performer, singer and songwriter — who specializes in helping those who feel unheard find their voice.

In May 2019, Kamm and Fenn met at the Getty Museum in Los Angeles, where they realized they wanted to tell the same story.

The result of their collaboration is “Voiceless: A Musical,” premiering Thursday at Caldera Theatre High School in Bend as part of an immersive theater experience by Ellipse Theater Community. The project explores the power of voice and what one can do if they’ve lost it.

Empowerment through vocal expression

The musical closely follows Fenn’s life experience. She was diagnosed with muscle tension dysphonia (MTD), a functional neurological disorder, after being trapped in a codependent work relationship with a TV writer and producer for over two years, according to the article Kamm read, which was published in The Walrus, an independent nonproft Canadian media organization.

“Muscle tension dysphonia is a trauma response. It’s a neurological response to trauma. There’s nothing wrong with your vocal cords,” Kamm said. “If you have tension in your throat, you have a version of MTD and there’s a very good chance that it’s from some sort of emotional trauma that you’re dealing with.”

Kamm continued, “Your voice can unlock secrets about what is going on behind the scenes and people just don’t think about their voice very much. They take it for granted,” she said.

Kamm founded Sing Bend in 2013, where she helps people find, understand and own their voice through coaching. Three years later, she developed the Public (ROCK) Choir, where she encourages people to sing their faces off, because it feels good, according to her website.

“I don’t teach classical, official collegiate voice. I teach regular people how to feel empowered with their voice and I do it through singing. I feel very strongly that everybody with a voice should be using it and should understand how it works to its fullest effect, which is singing out loud,” Kamm said.

Representing neurodiversity

The show is deeply personal to Fenn, but also relatable.

“It’s about what happens when you lose the thing that defines you and how you find your way back to yourself,” Fenn said in a press release.

The storyline of “Voiceless” is centered around Addy, who starts a small courier company that employs people on the autism spectrum, including her niece Gigi. Addy holds tension in her throat and struggles to keep her company on the right track. The consequence is eventually losing her speaking voice. Fortunately, Gigi is gifted at speaking the truth and helps Addy find her voice, echoing Fenn’s lived experience with MTD and her close experience with her niece.

The show is presented by four female leads and a number of characters on the autism spectrum. The neurodiverse characters serve as the truth-tellers.

“There’s no one thing about autism that makes people autistic. However, the one through-line that seems to be more common than not is that they don’t fake things. When they speak, they mean what they say. When you speak, they believe what you say,” Kamm said.

A song in the show entitled “Typical Neurotypical” pokes fun at the ridiculous idioms that have become accepted as normal, such as “I’m starving to death,” or “He fell off the face of the Earth,” Kamm said.

For Kamm, the six-year project encompasses the themes that have defined her career.

“This is the culmination of every part of my life’s work and my passion for helping people find their voice,” she said in a press release. “It’s a labor of love and a tribute to the power of voice, in every sense.”

Kamm performs the role of Addy in the main-stage production, with director Richard Choate, choreographer Michelle Mejaski, scenic designer Mark McConnell and music director Rick Johnson.

The immersive experience

While many of the events associated with the project have passed by this article’s publication date, two immersive experiences remain.

At 7 p.m. on Monday, individuals will share stories of how they’ve lost their voice or found it in “Unbroken Voices: Stories Beyond the Silence” at The Flying Horse Gallery in Sisters.

On Aug. 9, the project will culminate with an all-day conference at Open Space Event Studios featuring panel conversations and creative workshops. It will include breakfast, lunch and refreshments, all for the price of $20. The conference brings together, therapists, creatives and advocates to help attendees explore what it means to live with authenticity.

“I’m almost more excited about that than I am the show,” Kamm said about the conference. “We’re singing. We’re doing diaphragm work. We’re doing breath support work. It’s all connected.”

The remaining two events build on a program that has connected the public to the themes of the show since June, which included yarn-bombing, singing and a sound bath concert.

Sunday’s matinee performance will be a sensory-friendly and ASL-interpreted show, specifically designed for neurodivergent and Deaf communities and will feature softer lighting, reduced lighting and a welcoming environment.

If You Go

What: “Voiceless: A Musical”

When: 7 p.m. Thursday-Saturday and 2 p.m. Saturday-Sunday; 7 p.m July 31-Aug. 2 and 2 p.m. Aug. 2-3

Where: Caldera Theater, 60925 SE 15th St., Bend

Cost: $35 adults and $30 students and seniors, plus fees

Contact: voicelessamusical.com