Meet Lisa Popeil of Lisa Popeil’s Voiceworks in Sherman Oaks

Today we’d like to introduce you to Lisa Popeil.

Lisa, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
When I was four, I began piano lessons and at six started with voice lessons. Singing, in particular was just so interesting and I began writing songs before becoming enamored with recording in studios. After receiving a Master’s Degree in Voice from CalArts, I performed and recorded with Frank Zappa and also made an album of my own which was a Billboard “Top Album Pick”. Also, in the ’80s I did quite a bit of session singing work as well as teaching voice.

I’ve sung on most of “Weird Al” Yankovic’s records and have focused on voice teaching internationally, doing voice research and attending medical conferences, and working with hundreds of voice teachers sharing my Voiceworks® Method, which I’ve developed over the last 50 years.

My passion for voice remains undimmed and it’s my mission to help singers experience the joys of skilled and expressive singing in any style including pop, jazz, R&B, rock, musical theater, opera and choral singing.

Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
The most challenging aspect of my journey was my attempt to pour all my energy into becoming a recording artist in the 1980’s. Though I knew that my chosen path would be unbelievably competitive, I threw myself into the process. But I did set a time limit for myself. I had decided early on that I didn’t want a small cult following…I wanted the big time or another direction altogether. After 7 years, it was time and I moved into video production. All of a sudden, I received an opportunity to teach voice at a community college. That experience made it clear that teaching voice was truly my calling and I became determined to pursue voice teaching for the rest of my life.

A perk was that, all the training and experiences I had weren’t a waste after all! Languages, dance, acting, film production, writing, directing, songwriting, piano, arranging, voice-overs, session singing, music theory, being on stage…everything has been useful in my service to my clients. It was a big relief to discover my calling had been under my nose all along.

Please tell us about Lisa Popeil’s Voiceworks.
My work is quite expansive and includes all things voice (singing, speech improvement, performance skills, dialects, accent reduction and voice care for professional voice users) but also, I love to teach pop piano, how to read music, and even co-write songs with my students, then create arrangements, produce the songs and then, my husband Bill Montei, a music video producer, rounds out the services we can provide. Lots of variety, lots of fun.

What I’m probably known best for, especially at the university level and international conference world, is my work in teaching commercial vocal styles and a technique called “belting”. Most highly trained singing instructors have their roots in classical singing (from which I come as well), but there’s a big demand for education and techniques for safe singing in the non-classical genres.

I think that what I bring to the table, for students, is that I have so many decades “in the trenches”, My goal has been to provide simple, concise information and rapid vocal improvement. Also, I can actually sing at a professional level in many styles so I can demonstrate, which I think is really useful to any singing student. Finally, I conduct voice research year after year, mostly to satisfy my curiosity but also to help take the mystery and guesswork out of singing, which has been the ways it’s been for hundreds of years.

Do you look back particularly fondly on any memories from childhood?
I grew up in Chicago and sometimes during winter breaks, my family would come and stay at a bungalow at the Beverly Hills Hotel. Heaven! It would be January and, unlike gray and freezing Chicago, in Beverly Hills, the sun would be bright, the weather warm. One morning I went outside and saw a ripe orange hanging off a fragrant tree. Now I have two acres of oranges in Ventura County and can recreate that awesome experience every year!

Contact Info:

• Website: www.popeil.com
• Phone: 818-634-3778
• Email: [email protected]
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/Voiceworks
• Twitter: www.twitter.com/lisa_popeil
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/lisa-popeils-voiceworks-sherman-oaks
• Other: https://www.youtube.com/user/lisaspopeil

Image Credit:
Daphne Reign,
Aslanbek Dzhaliev

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