When I started Uni way back in the 1990s, I’d never heard of a countertenor. Then I met my friend Dave. He’s easily the hairiest person I’ve ever encountered. A head of curly hair and a beard to shame Ned Kelly. And a voice the likes of which I’d never heard before. I remember the first time I heard Dave sing in a concert — his high, clear, piercing voice echoing around the stone hall in the main Uni building. I was captivated, amazed, astounded — you name it. High or low? Dave is a countertenor and is extremely skilled at using his head voice. Whatever gender you are, you’ll notice a break in your voice about halfway through its range. Arguably, it’s more noticeable if you have a male voice. But it’s there for female voices too. It's the conjunction of the chest or ‘modal’ voice, the lower bit of our voice where we usually do our speaking, and the higher, head voice, sometimes called ‘falsetto’.