Karen has inspired hundreds of students to have fun improving their voices! She has taught absolute beginners to untrained pros age 9 to 79 since 1997, started singing professionally in 1993, and has explored voice solutions since 1989.
Now a singer/songwriter and holistic voice coach in the Nashville area, Karen offers singing and speaking lessons nationwide by phone, locally in person, and group workshops anywhere by request.
Not vocally gifted in school, Karen's passion for singing led her to over a dozen voice instructors including Roberta Davis (Berklee School of Music), various holistic health workers, and years of teaching others before finding her voice - now enthusiastically praised from Minneapolis to Nashville to Paris, France!
With everything she's learned on her journey, Karen now guarantees voice improvement for students who follow her voice recommendations.
Bio
Karen Lyu swings, scats and soulfully savors songs about life, love and things that matter. Her music is touched by jazz, pop, folk, funk, Motown, 80's, R&B, Broadway, classical, Latin, and Korean folk songs.
Karen always gets asked "How does that big voice come out of that tiny body?"
Born in Seoul, Korea, Karen grew up with her immigrant family in CA, TX, and MN. and got a Jazz Studies degree at Cornell College. She has traveled and performed in the US, Central America, South Korea, Europe and Brazil with musicians such as Robert Robinson (Aretha Franklin), Soli Hughes (Sounds of Blackness), and Devon Evans (Bob Marley). Karen's singing has been featured on National Public Radio, MN Public Radio, Democracy Now, documentary film, TV, radio and cable. As far as she knows, Karen is the first Korean-American jazz singer ever in the US.
Her voice instruction experience includes: voice workshops and classes at West Bank School of Music, Dreamland Arts, Walker Community Church, One World Festival, and Pronoia Fest, my independent studio in Minneapolis, MN - now in Mt. Juliet, TN, being a choir Director for Academia Cesar Chavez and Children's Center Montessori, and programs as a Roster Artist for SteppingStone Theater and Artist in Residence for Minneapolis Public Schools, St. Paul Public Schools, Girl Scouts and more. Karen is also a voice expert for eHow.com,EzineArticles.com, and TRCB.com, and a member of Voice and Speech Trainers Association.
Karen's eclectic experience includes voice coaching, storytelling, acting, composing, writing, dancing, voiceovers, producing, one-woman shows, modeling, freelance design, and 2 pivotal years as Executive Director of West Bank School of Music. She's always learning and exploring something new.
Karen has written music for several theater productions since 1995, and received a 2007 Minnesota State Arts Board grant for original musical theater collaboration. A jazz vocalist since 1993, on winning NashvilleMuse.com's Songwriter of the Week 2/2/10, Karen has been loving all the encouragement for her to sing, play and write more of her own original music. "Music is what I'm meant to do."
What Karen Offers as a Holistic Voice Coach
The focus is on fun and inspiring ways that work to help you improve your voice.
Your voice is part of your identity and your soul that you share with the world every day of your life.
There are no "bad” voices, there are only voices that need effective training, practice and health care.
Your body is your instrument - taking care of your body helps you have a healthier voice.
Learning body awareness is key, so that you physically experience what works and doesn’t work - to get it in your body memory.
