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Lisa Stephanie Popeil (born February 24, 1956) is an American voice coach, singer, musician and voice researcher. She is the creator of the trademarked Voiceworks Method and, as a voice coach, specializes in the pedagogy of vocal styles. She attended the California Institute of the Arts where she earned her BFA (Bachelor of Fine Arts) in General Music and an MFA (Master of Fine Arts) in Voice.
Popeil was born in Chicago, Illinois. She is the eldest daughter of inventor S. J. Popeil (1915–1984) [1] and Eloise Popeil (1925–2010). Popeil's older paternal half-brother, Ron Popeil (1935–2021), was an inventor and marketer.
Her musical training began at the age of four, when she began studying piano and voice study at the age of six. She attended Sacred Heart Schools and the University of Chicago Laboratory Schools.[ citation needed ] In 1971, Popeil moved to Newport Beach, California and graduated from Corona del Mar High School.[ citation needed ]
In 1974, she attended Prescott College in Prescott, Arizona, and attended California Institute of the Arts from 1976-1981 where she earned her BFA in General Music (piano, composition and voice) and an MFA in Voice.[ citation needed ]
In 1981, Popeil performed in lingerie with Frank Zappa at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium and sang Lisa's Life Story, Dangerous Kitchen, and Teenage Prostitute. [2] The latter was included on Zappa's album Ship Arriving Too Late to Save a Drowning Witch which featured Zappa's biggest-selling song Valley Girl. An edited version of Lisa's Life Story appeared on the album You Can't Do That On Stage Anymore, Volume 6 released in 1992. Since 1983, Popeil has sung backup vocals with "Weird Al" Yankovic, notably on the song Mr. Popeil which pays homage to her father and half-brother.
In 1984, Popeil produced her self-titled album Lisa Popeil which was chosen as a Billboard Top Album Pick. That record featured Steve Vai and Joe LoDuca as guest musicians. She appeared at a 1998 concert as a singer at the Getty Center with the Pasadena Symphony, performing in Erik Satie's Socrate . [3]
As a singer-songwriter, Popeil was signed to Scotti Brothers Records in 1984. Her single "Poor Connection" was released that year. Popeil taught pop and classical voice classes at the College of the Canyons in Santa Clarita, California from 1990 to 2000, private jazz voice at CalArts from 1995 to 1997, and was an adjunct voice teacher at Pepperdine University in Malibu, California from 2014 to 2015.
In 1995, Popeil released her Total Singer video/DVD program followed by the educational CD How to Speak Beautifully. In reference to her brother being a pitchman for gadgets, she says she is "The pitch woman of voice". [2]
In 1994, Popeil co-composed (with Bill Montei) the musical score for the sci-fi film "CyberTracker" and in 2009 "Letter to Dad". In the 1980s and 1990s, Popeil worked as a session singer and voice-over artist for commercials, Tv and film in Los Angeles.
As a voice researcher, Ms. Popeil has conducted research with Drs. Johan Sundberg, Ken-Ichi Sakakibara, Matthias Echternach, Jack Jiang, Nathalie Henrich, Steven Feinberg, Thomas Cleveland, Martias Zanartu, Louisa Traser, Bernhard Richter, Zhaoyan Zhang and James Thomas.
Her "Daily Vocal Workout for Pop Singers" CD was released in 2013. In 2014, Popeil sang background vocals on "Weird Al" Yankovic's "Tacky", a parody of Pharrell Williams' "Happy". In 2016, Popeil performed in Oslo, Norway for the ZappaUnion concert reprising her 1981 Frank Zappa performance.
Popeil presents workshops and lectures widely at international voice conferences such as Voice Foundation, Pan-European Voice Conference, International Congress of Voice Teachers, and National Association of Teachers of Singing, and the Acoustical Society of America as well as presenting her Total Singer Workshop at universities such as Duke University Voice Care Center in Durham, North Carolina, Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter, Minnesota, and at Shenandoah University CCM Vocal Pedagogy Institute in Winchester, Virginia.
In 2019, Popeil toured as a background singer with "Weird Al" Yankovic on his Strings Attached Tour. [4] Five years later, In 2024, Popeil performed twice with Stinkfoot Orchestra, a 14-piece Zappa tribute band.
In 2006, Popeil received the 'Career Achievement in Vocal Instruction' from the LA Music Awards. She has taught singing to the children of migrant workers as part of the Migrant Education Program, a program of the Los Angeles County Office of Education, [5] and to students at Wayland Baptist University competing for scholarship at the Music Achievement Awards. [6]
Popeil received the 'Plaque Sergio Rainis' award for her 'Achievements in the Field of Vocal Pedagogy' from the Croatian Choral Directors Association in 2014.
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