Lyra Voices

Meet Sheena and Karen from Lyra Voices.

Sheena MacKinnon

Sheena started singing as a young child and loved making up and singing songs amidst the rugged beauty of the Isle of Skye, on family holidays.

Brought up listening to folk and classical music, along with classic 60s and early 70s music on the radio, she was introduced to songs from the musicals at the choir she sang in throughout her childhood. The choir provided early vocal tuition, and a sound basis in technique and harmony, for her to build on as a young adult singer.

As a teenager Sheena’s musical tastes expanded to include artists such as Bob Dylan, Janis Ian and Fleetwood Mac and she developed what has proved to be a lifelong love of heavy rock music. Her musical influences and interests remain diverse, and she delights in confusing music download sites with her choices!

Sheena included music amongst her studies at university, where she joined the choral society and started taking formal vocal tuition which she continued for a number of years, expanding both her repertoire and knowledge of technique.

While still at university she joined the Glasgow Songwriters club, as an early member, rediscovering her love of song writing which had begun in childhood. Sheena performed regularly at the club, and at a number of their gigs over the next few years, before leaving to form a duo with Karen.

Sheena’s idea of a perfect day chilling out would be listening to great music beside the sea, while eating chocolate ice cream!

Hear more from Sheena at: Don’t Panic! How Learning To Sing Helped Me Deal With Panic Attacks

Karen Coleman

Karen’s first paying gig was singing for chocolate at the age of two on the counter of the local Co-op, thus beginning a life-long love affair with singing and confectionery.

Since then, Karen has worked in theatre and television as an actor, dancer and choreographer and in pubs, clubs and hotels around Scotland as a singer. She gained Equity membership as part of an earlier close harmony vocal duo, before spending several years performing with Sheena.

Latterly, Karen worked as a cabaret singer performing a diverse range of material and learning to respond to increasingly eclectic requests from pub clientele.

As a voiceover artiste one of her finest moments was providing the voice of Svetlana an amorous, animated, Russian snake!

Away from performing, Karen spent many years running workshops training actors for the film and television industry, as well as drama classes for fun and confidence building. She also has experience of working with special needs and mixed-ability groups, including providing workshops for social work and mental health organizations. Alongside this, Karen has written and directed extensively for children’s theatre and provided dialect coaching for the BBC.

While teaching others Karen has continued her own learning, undergoing several years of vocal training with different practitioners, giving her the opportunity to absorb varying styles and teaching techniques.

A life-long veggie and devotee of alternative therapies she loves the sea and is and is passionate about animals. She lives with her cats and her lovely actor husband Mark.

Hear more from Karen at: Shut Up and Sing!

Lyra Voices started life as Dynamic Meladies. Watch some of our awesome ladies in action over our first nine years. We hope you enjoy it and it inspires you to come and find your voice with Lyra Voices!

Read more testimonials from our members.