Question 1

Who is Igor Olivier Ezendam, and why do people care about their work?

Accepted Answer

Igor Olivier Ezendam is a Dutch overtone singer, multi-instrumentalist and voice teacher who founded Feeling Sound and has worked with the human voice for more than thirty years. Overtone singing, in which one voice produces two or more distinct notes at once, is the center of the practice, and he treats it less as a performance skill than as a way into listening. His concerts, workshops and retreats have taken him to more than fifteen countries, and he has taught at universities, conservatories and international festivals. Listeners who follow him tend to value the consistency across scales, since the same attention he brings to a hall of hundreds carries into a session with one person. Beyond concerts and recordings, he has made listening installations, a giant playable didgeridoo sculpture called Uroboros, community singing projects and festivals. The profile lists nine albums and collaborations, and the throughline across all of it is education: the work is built to change how a person hears and uses their own voice.

Question 2

What tradition or lineage does Igor Olivier Ezendam's work belong to?

Accepted Answer

His profile does not name a specific teacher lineage, so any claim about a formal line of transmission would be invention. What can be said with confidence is the modality: his work sits in the overtone singing tradition, where a single voice is shaped to bring out audible harmonics. Overtone singing as a practice is most often traced to Central Asian throat-singing traditions such as Tuvan khöömei and Mongolian forms, and contemporary practitioners in Europe have adapted those techniques into workshops, retreats and concert forms. Igor's own framing is pedagogical rather than ceremonial, emphasizing relaxation, playfulness, improvisation and deep attention so that people can find harmonics without force or strain. His long collaboration with writer and facilitator Arianna Benedetta Artioli, which dates to 2010, shapes the cultural side of the work, linking music with personal growth, ecology and community. Readers who want the fuller picture of how his method developed should look for the long-form pieces on him as they are published, since the profile itself is concise on this point. Treat the lineage as a practice-based one rooted in listening rather than a single documented school.

Question 3

Where should a complete newcomer start with Igor Olivier Ezendam's work?

Accepted Answer

A newcomer with no background in singing or meditation is best served by starting with the teaching rather than the recordings. His profile describes his books as the most direct entry point: Your Sound Is Sacred, Ten Practices to Free Your Voice and Voice Unveiled are the three titles he is credited with writing. Ten Practices to Free Your Voice, by its title alone, suggests a structured, exercise-based route that suits someone who wants to try overtone singing at home. Your Sound Is Sacred reads as the more reflective entry, framing the voice as something to be respected before it is trained. After the books, the most useful step is a live workshop or a retreat, because overtone singing is hard to judge from audio alone and the feedback in a room is part of the method. Recordings and the Spotify catalogue make sense as a second stage, once the listener has some sense of what the harmonics are doing. Students who arrive through the books often report the same surprise, which is that the exercises are more playful than the word overtone implies.

Question 4

What makes Igor Olivier Ezendam distinctive compared to other singers in the same space?

Accepted Answer

Many singers in the overtone and meditative voice field are known primarily for their recordings or their performance technique, but Igor's profile places teaching at the core of the work. His practice is framed around listening, and the goal is stated as creating spaces where people rediscover the intelligence of their own voice rather than producing a showpiece. The range of formats is unusually wide for one artist: concerts for hundreds, quiet sessions with a single person, university and conservatory teaching, playable sculptures like the Uroboros didgeridoo, and community singing projects such as DomeniCanto, Singing for Water, The Music Farm and Vivo la Voce. He has also co-directed Etnika, Zenith Summer Camp, Massaggia-Ti and Sound & Silence, which means his influence runs through gatherings as much as through a catalogue. The ecological and community threads, developed with Arianna Benedetta Artioli since 2010, give the work a civic dimension that is less common in the voice-teaching world. For a seeker, the distinction is that Igor is less a recording artist who also teaches than a teacher whose recordings and installations extend a pedagogical project.

Question 5

Who is Igor Olivier Ezendam's work NOT for?

Accepted Answer

The honest answer is that his approach will frustrate listeners who want fast, high-energy music or a quick technical fix. The practice is built on relaxation and patience, and overtone singing rewards slow, repeated attention rather than dramatic payoffs. Listeners who come to his recordings expecting rhythmic drive or the density of electronic production will find the sound sparse and inward, and may hear little happening for long stretches. Singers who want a rigorous, conservatory-style vocal technique with fixed repertoire may also find the improvisational, playful framing too loose for their goals. People seeking a purely secular or purely clinical approach to voice work should know that his teaching is explicitly about listening, attention and personal growth, and that framing shapes the sessions. Those who expect a celebrity-style performer will also be disappointed, since his public profile is modest and his strength lies in the room rather than in the press. The work suits people willing to sit with a single sustained sound and treat it as the lesson.

Question 6

How can I follow Igor Olivier Ezendam's upcoming events, releases, and travel?

Accepted Answer

The most reliable starting point is the official site, feelingsound.com, which serves as the home of Feeling Sound and the place where workshops, retreats and educational programmes are announced. His YouTube channel and Spotify artist page are the main places where recordings and performance material appear, so following both gives a sense of new releases as they land. At the time of this profile, no upcoming tour dates have been crawled, so any schedule should be verified directly on the website rather than assumed from older listings. Igor's events have historically included multi-day gatherings like Zenith Summer Camp, Massaggia-Ti and Sound & Silence, which he co-directed, so readers interested in those formats should check the organisers' calendars for future editions. Because he has performed in more than fifteen countries, international travel is part of the rhythm of the work, and retreats are typically the most intimate way to see him teach. Subscribing to the newsletter or contact list on the official site is the surest way to hear about sessions before they sell out.

Question 7

What does Igor Olivier Ezendam's music actually sound like, including instruments, voice, and pacing?

Accepted Answer

The defining sound is the overtone voice itself, where a single singer produces a fundamental pitch with one or more audible harmonics layered above it. Igor is a multi-instrumentalist, but the profile does not list specific instruments for each recording, so claims about particular instruments on particular tracks should be checked against the releases themselves. The pacing tends to be slow and sustained, because the harmonics emerge most clearly when a tone is held and gradually shaped rather than attacked. Listeners new to the form often find the first listen disorienting, since the ear has to learn to separate the fundamental from the upper partials that seem to float above it. The aesthetic leans toward restraint and concentration rather than exuberance, and the strongest moments usually come from small changes in vowel and tongue position. Those who want a clear reference point should listen with headphones and resist the urge to find a melody, because the music is closer to a study in attention than to a song form. The sound reads best as an invitation to listen closely.

Question 8

What instruments and collaborators does Igor Olivier Ezendam typically work with?

Accepted Answer

Igor is described as a multi-instrumentalist, though the profile does not itemise which instruments appear on which projects, so readers should verify specifics against the recordings. His most visible instrument-based object is the didgeridoo Uroboros, a giant playable sculpture that turns the instrument into a public installation rather than a studio tool. The voice remains the central instrument, and overtone singing is the technique that defines both his concerts and his teaching. His most significant long-term collaborator named in the profile is writer and facilitator Arianna Benedetta Artioli, with whom he has worked closely since 2010 on international retreats, educational programmes and cultural initiatives. Together they connect music with personal growth, ecology and community, which shapes how collaborations are structured. He has also co-directed Etnika, Zenith Summer Camp, Massaggia-Ti and Sound & Silence, and these gatherings function as collaborative platforms as much as performance series. Projects such as DomeniCanto, Singing for Water, The Music Farm and Vivo la Voce extend that collaborative approach into community singing.

Question 9

What is Igor Olivier Ezendam's teaching style, and what does a session or retreat feel like?

Accepted Answer

His teaching is built on relaxation, playfulness, improvisation and deep attention, and the goal is to help people find harmonics without force or strain. A session typically begins with the body and breath rather than the voice itself, because overtone singing depends on a loose jaw, a relaxed tongue and an open throat. Improvisation is central, so students are often invited to experiment with vowel shapes and small movements until a harmonic becomes audible, rather than to copy a fixed exercise. Many participants arrive convinced they cannot sing, and one of the more striking features of his method is how quickly that belief shifts once a first overtone appears in the room. Retreats add a longer arc, combining singing with listening practices and community time, which suits students who want immersion rather than a single workshop. The atmosphere is closer to a studio than a stage, with attention moving between individual feedback and group listening. Those who prefer structured, repertoire-driven lessons may find the open-ended format less satisfying than the more exploratory sessions suggest.

Question 10

What are the recurring themes in Igor Olivier Ezendam's teaching?

Accepted Answer

The most consistent theme is listening, which Igor frames as the real purpose of overtone singing rather than a side effect of it. A second theme is the idea that the voice is already intelligent and simply needs to be rediscovered, a view he expresses in the aim of creating spaces where people can reconnect with their own voice. Relaxation recurs throughout, since harmonics are presented as something that appears when force is removed rather than added. Improvisation is the working method, so students learn through play and experiment instead of memorised patterns. The titles of his books point to the same concerns: Your Sound Is Sacred frames the voice as worthy of respect, while Ten Practices to Free Your Voice emphasises release and concrete exercise. Ecology and community run as a secondary thread, visible in his work with Arianna Benedetta Artioli and in projects like Singing for Water and The Music Farm. Students who want to see these themes in practice should read the books alongside any live session, because the ideas are easier to test in the body than to absorb on the page.

Igor Olivier Ezendam

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