Eric Armstrong teaches voice, speech, accents, and text in the BFA acting program. He works as an accent/dialect coach for theatre, film, television and gaming.
Eric holds a BFA from Concordia University, Montreal, and an MFA from York, as well as certificates from The Drama Studio, London UK, and The International Commedia Dell'Arte Training Workshop, in Reggio Emilio, Italy. He trained with David Smukler both at York and at Canada's National Voice Intensive, where he went on to be a full-time faculty member. In summer 2021 Eric completed the Knight-Thompson Speechwork Certification program. He has taught at university programs since 1994 in Toronto, Windsor, Boston and Chicago.
His professional accent coaching/design for theatre includes work for Project Humanity, Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre, Volcano Theatre, Canadian Stage, Crow's Theatre, Buddies in Bad Times Theatre, Soulpepper, Steppenwolf and Court Theatre; coaching for film and television highlights include designing the Belter accents for Seasons 1-3 & 5–6 of Prime Video’s The Expanse, as well as coaching actors Iain Glen, Eric Bana, Kelly Macdonald, America Ferrera, Jared Harris, Michelle Williams, Sarah Silverman, and Tom Wilkinson.
He is a former director and board member of The Voice And Speech Trainers Association, and was honored with their Leadership and Service award in 2006. He has published numerous articles and reviews in the Voice and Speech Review, and was the recipient of the 2020 Dudley Knight Award for Outstanding Vocal Scholarship for the article “Accent and Language Training for the Indigenous Performer: Results of Four Focus Groups”.
Eric holds a BFA from Concordia University, Montreal, and an MFA from York, as well as certificates from The Drama Studio, London UK, and The International Commedia Dell'Arte Training Workshop, in Reggio Emilio, Italy. He trained with David Smukler both at York and at Canada's National Voice Intensive, where he went on to be a full-time faculty member. In summer 2021 Eric completed the Knight-Thompson Speechwork Certification program. He has taught at university programs since 1994 in Toronto, Windsor, Boston and Chicago.
His professional accent coaching/design for theatre includes work for Project Humanity, Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre, Volcano Theatre, Canadian Stage, Crow's Theatre, Buddies in Bad Times Theatre, Soulpepper, Steppenwolf and Court Theatre; coaching for film and television highlights include designing the Belter accents for Seasons 1-3 & 5–6 of Prime Video’s The Expanse, as well as coaching actors Iain Glen, Eric Bana, Kelly Macdonald, America Ferrera, Jared Harris, Michelle Williams, Sarah Silverman, and Tom Wilkinson.
He is a former director and board member of The Voice And Speech Trainers Association, and was honored with their Leadership and Service award in 2006. He has published numerous articles and reviews in the Voice and Speech Review, and was the recipient of the 2020 Dudley Knight Award for Outstanding Vocal Scholarship for the article “Accent and Language Training for the Indigenous Performer: Results of Four Focus Groups”.