A song in her heart

Crohn’s disease won’t stop Natalie Austin making music. She tells Kirsten Jones why positivity always hits the right note

When her dreams of becoming a top musician were dashed by illness, Natalie Austin decided to sing a different tune

“Trust me, everybody can learn to sing. Not everyone can be a Mariah Carey or a Whitney Houston, but they can be improved.” So says London voice coach Natalie Austin whose mission is to boost confidence among her clients.

From her two studios in Harrow Weald, near London, and Radlett, Hertfordshire, she strikes a chord with singing lessons for people of all ages and the personalised lyrics she writes for performance at special occasions such as weddings, birthdays and Bar Mitzvahs.

The 40-year-old singersongwriter teaches a vocal technique known as Speech

Level Singing (SLS), but with the addition of her own individual twist. Singing is an extension of the voice, explains Natalie, who can teach people to sing with as much ease as they speak. She teaches musical theatre for children, instructs schoolchildren in singing and coaches West End stars and budding pop singers en route to the music charts.

“I have clients singing in The Lion King, Tina: Tina Turner The Musical and Kinky Boots,” she reveals. “Others are on the verge of making it in the music industry. It’s a total buzz to watch someone you’ve worked with reach their potential. They’re living the dream that they wanted to achieve.”

It was Natalie’s own dream to go onstage but, sadly, her body had other ideas. At six years old she was diagnosed with Crohn’s, an inflammatory disease most commonly found in the bowel. People with Crohn’s disease can suffer from diarrhoea, stomach

cramps, joint pain and fatigue, among other unpleasant symptoms, which can make life difficult. “It was traumatic and I was off school for a long time,” says Natalie, who had her appendix removed before doctors diagnosed her condition.

“I was put on a liquid diet, which worked, and I was well until I turned 17. I was stressed out during my A-level exams, had a massive flare-up and had my first bowel resection. They cut out the ulcerated part of my bowel. It’s quite gross, really.”

Natalie flourished at the Central School of Speech and Drama and rather than leave her passion behind, she moved her goalposts to pursue an even more rewarding career. In 2004 she decided to launch London Voice Coach, to give other people a voice, and put pen to paper to write songs for both herself and others.

Her self-penned songs tend to be about herself or those people with whom she has a special connection. She wrote her best-known song, Make A Wish, for teenager Alexis Ganias, who was born blind.

She says, “This song is about believing in ourselves. Sometimes there are obstacles that stand in our way, but keep going, because wishes do come true.”

With Natalie on piano, the pair won a local Jews Got Talent competition, judged by Boyzone star Ronan Keating, auditioned for Britain’s Got Talent and received a standing ovation at

The London Palladium.

“Simon Cowell was up on his feet,” she recalls. “I cried my eyes out in front of Ant and

Dec. It was such an amazing, emotional moment.”

Natalie also has a collection of quirkier numbers she has written, inspired by one of her favourite artists, the musician and comedian Tim Minchin.

“Do you know who he is?” she asks. “I love him. I have a song about safari and animals and another called Ditzy Blonde. I’m blonde, but I’d like to think I’m not too ditzy. I have two sides to my writing, quirky and ballad-pop.”

Natalie’s love of music began early – “keeping my parents up all night singing nursery rhymes” – and she spent her childhood in front of a piano, which she calls her happy place.

“Music is something that everyone can appreciate. It’s a bonding experience,” she says. “Singing one of my songs will help me laugh or cry. I’m very lucky to have music as an outlet.”

Music, she adds, can act as therapy for anyone who sings or listens, including her clients, some of whom have been bullied at school, undergone traumatic experiences or suffer from anxiety,

“It’s a buzz to watch someone you’ve worked with reach their potential”

cancer or a chronic illness. She describes her sessions as a release which gives people the opportunity to sing and talk about their worries, if they so choose.

“Singing songs is almost like that light at the end of the tunnel, where they can come out into a brighter place,” Natalie explains. “I don’t tell people about my Crohn’s, unless it comes up. If

I do, they realise that they’re not alone. None of us have it all, and that’s ok.”

Many women with Crohn’s disease are unable to have children and Natalie counts herself lucky to have two healthy boys, even if it meant undergoing a second operation.

“I was really worried that I wouldn’t be able to conceive, but thank goodness I did,” she says. “they say Crohn’s skips a generation, so we pray that my boys are ok.”

to keep her condition stable, she visits hospital every two months for vedolizumab, a strong immunosuppressive drug. “I’m given the drug through an infusion, which sounds nice but really I’ve just got a drip in my arm,” adds Natalie, who also uses music to help manage her symptoms. when she sings, her whole body relaxes and distracts her from the pain and discomfort of her condition.

“Setting up my company has given me the strength to go forward. I won’t let having Crohn’s affect that,” she affirms. “My aim is to make a difference with my music. If one of my songs can help somebody, then that’s what I want to do.”

Natalie also has a message for anyone who is either living with Crohn’s disease or is struggling to come to terms with the diagnosis – and it’s all about positivity.

“You are going to be ok,” she insists. “Find your outlet – something you enjoy – and do it often. Most importantly, don’t let it stop you from being you.”

For further information on Natalie Austin’s London Voice Academy, visit londonvoicecoach.com.