Christian T. Herbst

He holds a Master's degree in classical voice pedagogy from Mozarteum University Salzburg and a PhD in Biophysics (2012) from Palacký University Olomouc, Czech Republic, under Jan Švec; a visiting residency at the Center for Computer Research in Music and Acoustics (CCRMA) at Stanford University helped shape his move into research. He has taught over 5,000 singing lessons across nearly three decades — including with the Tölzer Knabenchor and the Salzburger Dommusik — practical experience that still informs his science. Previous appointments include head of the Bioacoustics Laboratory at the University of Vienna, postdoctoral researcher at the Voice Research Laboratory in Olomouc, and associate guest professor at Kyoto University. He currently serves as Senior Postdoctoral Researcher in the Department of Vocal Studies at Mozarteum University Salzburg, Adjunct Assistant Professor in the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders at the University of Iowa, and Adjunct Guest Professor at the Janette Ogg Voice Research Center, Shenandoah Conservatory (Virginia). At Mozarteum, he is principal investigator of "Big Voice Data," an Austrian Science Fund (FWF) project on large-scale approaches to voice measurement and assessment.

Herbst has authored over 80 peer-reviewed publications — including three in the journal Science — together cited more than 3,000 times. His work has also achieved strong public visibility, with a cumulative Altmetric score approaching 5,000 and ten papers ranking among the top 5% of all research outputs tracked by Altmetric. He has delivered nearly 200 conference presentations, about half by invitation, and received over ten international scientific awards, among them the 2016 Sataloff Award for Young Investigators from The Voice Foundation and the 2023 Van L. Lawrence Fellowship from the National Association of Teachers of Singing and The Voice Foundation. He serves on the editorial boards of the Journal of Voice and the Journal of Singing, where he is an Associate Editor and authors the "Practical Voice Science" column, and sits on the advisory board of The Voice Foundation.