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Lioba Grunow | Voice Empowerment

@liobagrunow

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Singer, Voice Professional & Vocal Coach
Performance • Pedagogy • Voice Politics
Training singers, exploring voice and power
📍Berlin
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In my own path as an artist, I have come across a plethora of different approaches to voice, presence and expression. The one thing that was always missing for me was to see the person whose voice you’re working on as a whole human, with everything they have experienced.

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Our voice holds a lot of info about who we are and what we have been through. And I think it’s crucial to take the whole person into consideration when working on and with their voice. And I’m here to do that.
I’m a professionally trained singer, hold a B.A. in Popular Music, completed the Conservatory Program in Musical Theater at NYFA and have been singing and performing my entire life - on multiple continents, in multiple languages. I’m excited to share my knowledge that comes from almost 30 years of singing, and my background in acting, dancing and moving with you!

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No matter whether you’re a performer, a public speaker, someone who sings for fun, someone who is struggling with their vocal health, projection or their urge to speak; someone who wants to connect more with their body through their voice and breath – I am here to show you what a precious treasure box our voice is and how to be more confident in your voice and ultimately yourself.

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Click the link in bio to schedule a your first FREE consultation with me.
For any questions and for more info, just send me a DM.

📸: @rubn.andrade

#vocalcoach #singer #vocalhealth #empowerment #voice #performance #publicspeaking #truthfulness #actress by @liobagrunow

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3 years ago

Singing and performing during summer, especially outdoors, is one of my favorite things in the world. 🌞🎤

But just like winter makes singers struggle due to the cold temperatures and flu season, summer brings its own challenges for keeping your voice healthy and functional. Heat and sun dry out our bodies - and that includes our vocal folds. They're covered in a thin layer of mucosal fluid that needs to stay hydrated to vibrate freely and efficiently. Less moisture = more friction = more effort to produce the same sound. And eventually, this can potentially even lead to injuries.

For singers (and anyone who uses their voice professionally), hydration isn't just a nice-to-have: it's a fundamental pillar of vocal health. And it takes extra discipline during heat and sun exposure to keep performing with ease.

However, water alone often isn't enough. Your body also needs electrolytes to actually absorb and retain that fluid. Otherwise, you're just cycling water through without it doing its job.

That's why I lean on hydrating, electrolyte-rich foods: watermelon, cucumber, strawberries, coconut water, and similar, which has worked wonders during those hot summer days.

A few of my favorite ways to combine these? Blended watermelon + coconut water, or a cucumber-strawberry infused water throughout the day. Small habit, big payoff for vocal stamina.

What are your experiences with singing or using your voice during the summer? Do you find it easier or harder than in the winter or other seasons?

Disclaimer: I'm not a dietician or doctor. I'm a singer and voice teacher sharing what's worked from personal experience. So please check in with a medical professional in case you have any pre-existing conditions or intolerances before consuming any of the foods suggested in this video or text.

#singer #vocalcoach #voiceteacher #summer #vocalhealth taken in Berlin, Deutschland by @liobagrunow

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a month ago

I made myself a birthday cake as special as I'd make for anyone I love. Because recently, I learned to be that person for myself too. This year started with a fight I didn't know if I'd win. It felt like my tank was empty, and the next gas station a 2-day hike away. Depression had me in a chokehold for months. But I got help. And I chose life. And somewhere in choosing life, I realized the only way to survive was to choose... ME.

Choosing myself meant looking at who I'd let in — realizing I'd spent years being the giver to people who only knew how to take. Empathy is my superpower. But I confused endless compassion with self-abandonment, excusing hurt because I understood where it came from.

Some people had to leave this year. Not because I pushed them out — because I stopped shrinking myself to keep them comfortable, and they couldn't handle the version of me that takes up space. People upset by our boundaries usually benefited most from us having none.

People who actually love you don't need you small to feel safe. The friends who bullied me the moment I stopped centering them — that wasn't love. That was ego, protecting a story they couldn't afford to lose. I still have compassion for why people become like that. But their wounds don't mean I owe them my peace.

Now I'm louder. Less agreeable. Less available to anyone who needs me small to feel big. I did what I teach others: trust my own voice.

And the moment I stopped over-giving to people who took and took, the universe started giving back. Opportunities I didn't chase found me. Doors opened I didn't know I was standing in front of. People, old and new, showed up and gave — without me having to ask or shrink.

I'm still the loving one, still the empath, still stepping back when it's not my space to take up. What changed is I finally believe I deserve the same from others.

Choosing yourself isn't selfish. It's survival. And in a world that profits off women staying agreeable and quiet about their needs, choosing yourself is a little radical too. As a friend told me: "You sound the happiest, clearest, and least-giving-a-fuck ever since I've known you."

I stayed. I chose me. 36 - here I come ❤️‍🔥 taken in Berlin, Deutschland by @liobagrunow

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2 months ago

'As singers, we work in the feelings business', is what I recently came across again - a sentence I heard multiple times during my musical training. Watching many of my voice students making huge leaps forward recently, I wondered what it was. Because it happened with almost all of them around the same time. I thought it might be that our connection deepened significantly, that we just finally arrived at a place of deeper trust than before.

But then I noticed: it's ME. I recently had massive emotional breakthroughs, made significant steps forward in terms of self-love and vulnerability; all things I had been battling with over the last months, building a shell to protect myself from the world. I know that one of my superpowers is to be very present with people, even when I'm not feeling well, that I'm still a good teacher and empathetic even when I'm a mess on the inside.

I didn't suddenly become a better person or teacher... I just connected better with my feelings again. I allowed myself to be soft again, to be present for myself, not just others and to embrace my emotions rather than shoving them away out of fear of being 'too emotional'. I'm good at helping other people with this, but have always struggled with giving myself that permission and space.

This has been a very important reminder about how important it is for us as singers and voice teachers to always come back to working on ourselves, our baggage, our emotional availability - and remember that also our students can only go as deep as we're allowing ourselves to go.

I'm thankful for the guard I wore the past months, because it protected me, and secured some much needed isolation for deeper reflection. But it's time to let it go now. And be soft again.💜

#voiceteacher #vocalcoaching #singer #empowerment #voice taken in Berlin, Deutschland by @liobagrunow

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4 months ago

Honestly? I've been struggling with my own voice for a while. With the space I should take up. With being seen, being heard - and whether I'm allowed to be.

I've had so many thoughts sitting in my head on voice, that I've finally started putting them down on paper. And today, I'm sharing them for the first time. A bit nervous, yet excited to share all things voice that are on my mind from now on.

I started a Substack account. Please drop me a follow! I'm a singer and vocal coach based in Berlin, and I write about voice as identity, power, and politics — technique, yes, but also: what does it mean to truly own your voice? Who gets to? And what happens when the world has spent years telling you to make yourself smaller?

I'm entering a new era. A lot is in turmoil. I feel ready to take charge again and reclaim my own voice. And I figure the best way through it is to stop holding back and invite people to join me on the journey.

▶ Do you sound different depending on who you're with or where you’re at? Let me know in the comments!

First piece is up. Link in bio.

Photo by @rubn.andrade ✨ taken in Berlin, Deutschland by @liobagrunow

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5 months ago

2025 broke something in me that resistance used to protect. It turned me into someone I don't recognize—withdrawn, guarded, a homebody by necessity rather than choice. Not because I wanted solitude, but because the world outside became unbearable.

It started with hope. It turned into the brutal realization that I am powerless to stop what men do to my body, my peace, my sense of safety. The men who harassed me on the street. The man I dated. The men who wouldn't let me exist at the beach. The men who turned a simple walk into a gauntlet. And beyond my own experience—the constant drumbeat of male violence everywhere, relentless and inescapable.

This isn't feminist fatigue. This is living in a patriarchal dystopia where my body is never fully mine, where violation and exploitation aren't possibilities but inevitabilities I can't control or prevent.

The question that haunted me: How do I heal in a system that has no interest in my healing? Being told I'm making myself a 'victim' and 'acting from a scarcity mindset'...when I was just too exhausted and desillusioned from resisting.

This year was raw survival. If you saw me functioning in public, consider yourself lucky. I still showed up where I could. I still poured my heart into emowering others in using their voice.

But I'm learning. I'm building something now. Self-love, self-trust, and self-respect—these are becoming my foundation, the only real protection I have in a system designed to break me. Resilience. Strength. I'm my own compass. And that's what I'm standing on now. I finally have found energy to take care of my health again, and for the first time ever starting to see results through a changed lifestyle.

I see the world so much clearer now, I see myself clearer and am more focused and confident in my path than ever before. I'm starting 2026 with a simple word: ME.

Here's to the better moments of 2025, with friends, my Amoracuya birthday cake, my parents in Berlin, my first tattoo, dancing semba in Lisbon, singing, the endless intake of noodle soups, getting back in front of the camera, my dad as an effervescent source of joy and positive masculinity, and those wholesome moments in the water. by @liobagrunow

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9 months ago

Have you felt your voice hiding this year too?

I coach others to embrace, feel and trust their voice. To feel confident in being seen through their voice. To let go of the idea of a 'perfect' voice - because what would that even be?

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Truth is, for most of this year, I struggled with my own voice, my urge to speak and sing. So many things were done to me, that made me want to hide. Physically, emotionally...and vocally. In the end, vocal expression is always physical and emotional expression! Living in a body that is subject (or object) to so much patriarchal violence makes it hard at times (or often) to choose expression over protection.

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But if anything makes me want to sing again, it's probably Christmas. Festivities like Carnival and Christmas to me are still the foundation of musical expression within my culture and the base of communal singing. Where singing and listening to music is not about style, not about being good or well versed in a certain genre, not about showing off skills or ego. It's about celebrating a season or cultural event through song; sung, felt or listened to in community. Maybe just the first verse, maybe just the chorus, maybe just humming the melody, or sensing the vibration of the music in our body - this is where people come together in unison. One voice.

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Recording this little winter song with one of my best friends, during one of my favorite times of the year, and seeing how my voice does its job despite fighting a bad cold, is honestly the epitome of joy and evidence to my vocal and emotional endurance.

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Thank you for pushing through with me, although we were both so sick @martinacollimusic ♥️

🎹@martinacollimusic
🎵 by Anderson/Parish

#singer #vocalcoach #voiceteacher #vocalhealth #healthyvoice #performer #voice #empowerment #voiceempowerment #christmas #christmassongs🎶 #caroling #artistlife #voiceteachersofinstagram by @liobagrunow

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9 months ago

After sharing some experiences of everyday s*xual harrassment in the streets of Berlin a few days ago, putting this in stories just doesn't cut it anymore.

S*xual harrassment and v!iolence are not cultural phenomenons, they are a systemic problem. Worldwide. And especially now during summer here in Europe, the incidents are going through the roof.
It's been a rough summer emotionally, and I've spent a lot of time inside. Every time I go outside to find some peace, do selfcare or simply want to live 👏🏼my👏🏼life👏🏼 outside, I am confronted with this type of behavior by men. I am tired. I am exhausted. And I am fucking furious.

Men, do your work.
Start with yourself: how have you and are you contributing to the objectification and s*xualization of women and female bodies? How are you treating the women in your life? How can you act differently? Do you maybe think you're not part of the problem, because you're 'sensitive'?*
Then, look around your circle: what toxic mechanisms exist between and among your bros and other men in your life? Are you maybe a self-proclaimed 'feminist' who still falls into these patterns whenever it's convenient for you, or when you're looking for friends' approval? Have you called your bros out? Why not?
Start calling out your bros. Be firm. Hold them accountable. But hold yourself accountable first.

* Yes, you are still very much part of the problem. It's great that you don't subscribe to traditional masculinity in all forms, keep doing that, but you are still part of the system. And your behavior still affects women. by @liobagrunow

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a year ago

I told my parents they're the love of my life.

I got several messages telling me I'll be an auntie again - to the kids of wonderful friends.

I faced a man in court who sexually harrassed me. And, for the first time, saw justice - and the incredible healing force it is.

I learned that love is a verb. And a decision.

I started to set boundaries. And lost people during that process. And loved the growth it created in the relationship with others.

I spent more time by myself - and liked it.

I was angry a lot. At men. How men act in this world and how they treat me and others. I also got more empathy for them. And urge men more than ever to heal, for themselves and for the people whose lives they impact.

I cried less.

I got diagnosed with PCOS, leading to and explaining big physical changes. Changes I will have to learn how to live with next year and the years after.

I submitted a grant application to start my research on voice and discrimination.

I got my heart broken again. And decided to do a full recalibration of my love compass.

I got into a mentoring programme.

I vocal coached a number of great people and learned so much more about the connection between our voice and our soul.

I got back on my feet financially.

I followed the Pélicot case closely, with so many emotions, hoping that, finally, 'shame will change sides'.

I read 3 books. Yay.

In hindsight, 2024 was maybe more eventful than it felt. But it was hard and I struggled so, so much.
My happiest time was this Christmas, with so much love, so much warmth, so much family... I ended the year sick, but with my heart filled to the brim with loving. ❤️‍🔥

Photo in front of our ever-magnificent Christmas tree🎄 by @liobagrunow

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2 years ago

Here's the reason why I've been singing for exactly 30 years: my Dad - singer, theologian, philosopher, educator, funny guy, trickster, emotional dude and lover of whipped cream - started giving me voice lessons when I was just 4 years old. And whenever he had other voice students over, I would peek through the door he left ajar because I was so incredibly curious to see what he was doing with all these people who were coming to our home to learn how to sing. He knew. Sometimes he winked at me when they didn't look.

We recorded this little song in our native 'language', Kölsch, that is so simple and sweet and happy in our beautifully green garden in the summer.

My Papili has always brought the joy of song to our home. When I was still full of energy at bedtime, I would use him as my personal juke box and requested one song after the other. 5, 10, 20 songs he would sing to me until I was finally ready to go to sleep.

My parents met through the power of music, and I think in my childhood I often took for granted how special it was that my birthday songs were sung in harmonies, that they found songs to sing to me and my brother about the saints we were named after, and would host little concerts at our home with other musicians.

It's my Dad who gave me my name. Lioba, the whoman who is love - because he wanted me to walk through this world with a strong and loving heart.

I can't believe he's entering his last year before his 70ies today. And after what we've been through the last year and a half, I am happier and more thankful than ever that this gem of a person is my father.

Happy Birthday, Papili ♥️

🎶: Ming eetste Fründin - Bläck Fööss

#singer #fatheranddaughter #dadsofinstagram #vocalcoach #singing #kölsch #family by @liobagrunow

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2 years ago

In my journey of survival and revival after trauma it still tends to be my body that reminds me and makes me aware of how all these experiences still live inside me, even if I seem to forget about it:

The tension that randomly appears. The knots that suddenly become so strong. The pain that flares up in known and new places. My body is like a map of battles fought.

But it's also my body that reminds me of how capable I am of surviving. How much power I seem to possess to even having gotten through and still being here today.
And while I'm currently struggling with the effects of the memory my body keeps, I want to focus even more on celebrating it.

Every curve is a testament to my strength.
Every inch proof of my resilience.

📸@rubn.andrade

#survivor
#trauma #bodyconfidence #resilience #revival by @liobagrunow

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3 years ago

It’s International Women’s Day, or Feminist Fight Day, where we don’t just want to empower women and raise more awareness for the ongoing discrimination and oppression against women. But it’s important we remain aware of the fact that not only women are experiencing oppression under the patriarchy.

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That’s why today’s reel on VOICE EMPOWERMENT is especially, but not only for women.

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As women, we’ve always had a voice. But the chances and spaces to use it have been and still are rare. In the past and in the present, there are times when raising our voice could even get us killed.

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I want to share some vocal exercises on how to – literally and figuratively - raise your voice, how to be loud in a vocally healthy way. But being loud only gets us half the way: In a world that tries to keep us quiet, we need to believe and support each other that our voice and our message matter. This can be exhausting and tiring and take a real toll on us. So be careful with your energy and check in with yourself about how loud you can and want to be.

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Only intersectional feminism is feminism.

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#internationalwomensday
#intersectional
#feminism
#voice
#voiceempowerment
#empowerment
#vocalcoaching #vocalcoach
#raiseyourvoice
#publicspeaking by @liobagrunow

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3 years ago