The Working Voice Practice
Owen Butcher
Voice specialist for professional singers
I help singers and people who use their voices for work find out what's gone wrong with their voice — and what to do next.
In person in Leipzig (Zentrum-West) and East London, and online wherever you are. New Leipzig clients onboarding from January 2027.
Who I Work With
Mostly singers — working professionals and some very good amateurs — whose voices have stopped doing what they used to. Usually that's one of four things: muscle tension that keeps coming back, a voice that hasn't recovered after illness or a long rest, fatigue that now builds across a run or a tour when it never used to, or strain that comes from technique and hasn't shifted with other coaches.
My work sits where the anatomy is fine but the function isn't. If you've seen a laryngologist and been cleared of pathology, or you're fairly sure the problem isn't medical, this is the right place to start. If something clinical might be going on, my first job is getting you to the right person before we do anything else.
I also work with actors, teachers, broadcasters, lawyers and anyone else whose voice is their job, because the functional problems tend to be the same ones.
How I Work
Vocal Habilitation
One-to-one functional voice coaching. We start with a proper conversation about your voice history and what your working life asks of it, look at how your voice is working right now, and build a plan from there. Leipzig, East London or online.
Hands-on work on the muscles around the larynx, jaw, tongue and neck, to release the tension that gets in the way of your voice. Sessions are partly on a treatment table and partly seated, and you can book them on their own or alongside habilitation. Leipzig and East London.
Vocal health and ensemble sessions for choirs, festivals, conservatoires, choir networks, and organisations whose people talk or sing for a living. Mostly in person in the UK and Germany.
Why Me?
I sing for a living. I'm Tenor 2 in the Grammy-winning vocal group The Swingles, I co-direct the London session vocal agency Infinite Vocals, and there's church and session work in between, so when we talk about how a voice behaves under real load I'm not working from a textbook. I know what a tired voice feels like at 11pm on the third gig of the week, because some weeks it's mine.
I've also been the singer in trouble. I developed primary muscle tension dysphonia in my second year as an undergraduate at York, went looking for help, and found the support for working singers patchy and confusing. That experience is why I trained the way I did, and why this is the work I most want to do.
Credentials
Vocal Habilitation Professional, Vocal Health Education
Vocal massage Training, Voice Care Centre
Vocal Health First Aider, Vocal Health Education
MA in Vocal Studies, University of York
Member, British Voice Association
Tenor 2, The Swingle Singers
Co-director, Infinite Vocals
For ENTs, SLTs and Voice Clinicians
I take referrals for singers and other professional voice users after discharge, alongside voice therapy, or as part of a wider voice care team. My scope of practice is written down, I keep referrers informed at the points that matter, and I refer back if anything changes.
What singers say:
"Owen excellently strikes the balance between being extremely well-researched and being flexible and sensitive to the experiences of the client... I have found his sessions to be game-changing for my singing journey."
Michael Colman, Professional Singer
Start with a conversation
The first step is a free 20-minute call by phone or Zoom. We'll talk through what's happening with your voice and whether I'm the right person to help, and if I'm not, I'll say so and point you to someone who is.
Auf Deutsch
Ich arbeite in Leipzig (Zentrum-West) mit Sängerinnen und Sängern sowie mit Menschen, die beruflich viel sprechen. Ich biete Stimmmassage und funktionelles Stimmcoaching an. Alle Sitzungen finden auf Englisch statt. Der erste Schritt ist ein kostenloses, 20-minütiges Erstgespräch per Telefon oder Zoom.