Lisanne Lyons
Biographie Lisanne Lyons
Lisanne Lyons
a Miami based jazz vocalist, pianist, and arranger, is an active featured soloist with big bands symphony orchestras, small ensembles, band leader, college educator, vocal arranger, and vocal instructor. Lisanne has shared the stage with many jazz luminaries including Arturo Sandoval, Natalie Cole, Jon Hendricks, Maria Schneider, Gary Burton, Bobby McFerrin, Mose Allison, Duffy Jackson, Ira Sullivan, Jim Pugh, Harold Jones, John Fedchock, Ken Peplowski, Ted Rosenthal, Don Braden, John Hart, Ed Calle, Brian Lynch, Claudia Acuna, Mark Murphy, Stephanie Nakasion, Veronica Swift, Maynard Ferguson, Shelly Berg, Tierney Sutton, Jon Secada, Eliani Elias, Kevin Mahagony, George Benson, to name a few. Ms. Lyons has also been the featured artist with several big bands and orchestras; Woody Herman Orchestra, Maynard Ferguson Big Bop Nouveau, Arturo Sandoval, Larry Elgart Big Band, University of Miami Concert Jazz Band, Michael Berkowitz Gene Krupa Tribute Band, Artie Shaw Orchestra, Harry James Orchestra, South Florida Jazz Orchestra, and XL Big Band in Sweden, to name a few. She has also been a featured performer with several orchestras; Roanoke Symphony, Palm Beach Pops Symphony, Southwest Florida Symphony, Grand Rapids Symphony, Fort Worth Symphony, Ars Flores Symphony, Sunrise Pops Symphony, Alhambra Symphony, Hallandale Symphony, Sugar Pops Symphony, Broward Pops Symphony, and Las Olas Studio Orchestra.
Lisanne kicked off her jazz musical career at 17 years old immediately following high school, as the featured vocalist (piano, guitar, and flute) for three Air Force bands. In the span of six years, she would be the featured vocalist with the Norad Command Band, Travis Air Force Band of the Golden Gate, and the U.S. Air Force Academy "Falconaires". During this time, she performed throughout the US and Canada at various jazz festivals and major concert venues. Shortly after her six-year contract, she would attend the University of Miami School of Music on a full-scholarship and go on to win several DownBeat Collegiate Student Music Awards: two for Best Jazz Vocal Soloist and several as lead soprano and member of the renowned Jazz Vocal One Ensemble. She was also invited to be a featured performer with Joel Gray on the NBC televised Orange Bowl half-time show, "You'll Get a Kick Out of Cole" on NBC. After receiving her Masters Degree in Jazz Performance from the University of Miami, Cy Coleman would select her to replace Monica Mancini for the national tour of his Tony award-winning "City of Angels" musical. After the tour, Lisanne moved to New York City and immediately started performing in various bands and in jazz clubs around the city (Blue Note, Village Vanguard, Village Gate, and more). She was then offered a position as an Assistant Professor of music at Virgina Polytechnic and State University to develop their first jazz vocal program. Within a few years, her ensemble, "The New Virginians", would win multiple DownBeat Collegiate Student Music Awards for Outstanding Vocal Jazz Ensemble, with multiple invitations to headline for Virginia Music Educators Association (VMEA), MENC, and IAJE conferences. Her students would move on to careers as performers in the military bands, music educators, music technicians, and professional performers.
Lisanne also sang lead soprano and helped produce two recordings with the nationally acclaimed Uptown Vocal Jazz Quartet (Half-Past Swing and When the Sun Goes Down). The group garnered rave reviews, being featured with legendary host Susan Stamberg on NPR's "Weekend Edition." They also were featured on the Kennedy Center Millennium Stage, Detroit International Jazz Festival, Ottawa International Jazz Festival, Clearwater Jazz Holiday 25th Anniversary, and Festival Miami. They were also invited to perform with the Cote Ouest Big Band for the Les Nuits du Jazz Festival (Nantes, France). They performed several times at Blues Alley (Washington D.C.) Avalon Theater (Easton, MD), the Maryland Symphony (MD), Smithsonian Jazz Concert Series, Sanibel Big Arts Concert Series (Sanibel, FL), and many more. Lisanne would later also sing and help produce another recording with a Miami-based jazz vocal quartet, Mad Romance (Aim High).
In 2001, she relocated once again to Miami to pursue a Doctorate in Jazz Performance from the Frost School of Music. She would serve once again as a teaching assistant and help direct the renowned Jazz Vocal One Ensemble and Extensions. As a student she would receive a DownBeat Magazine Collegiate Student Music Award for Best Jazz Arrangement as well as receive another one as a member of the Jazz Vocal One ensemble for Best Jazz Vocal Large Ensemble. After graduation, Lisanne would be asked to stay on to teach jazz voice, musical theatre and helped founded the first commercial voice program and a cappella group at the Frost School of Music. During this time, she awarded another DownBeat Collegiate Student Music Award for Best Performance of her Small Vocal Jazz Group, Extensions. The performance included another one of her jazz vocal arrangements.
In 2014, Lisanne was asked to join the jazz faculty at Florida International University to develop the first jazz vocal program. After a few short years, the program attracted many talented students who have gone on to win multiple DownBeat Collegiate Student Awards for Outstanding Jazz Vocal Soloists and some went on to careers in premier military bands, nominated for jazz Grammy awards, win prestigious competitions, establish music school programs and private lesson studios. The FIU Jazz Vocal Ensemble and the small jazz vocal group, Panthonics, are also recipients of several DownBeat College Student Music Awards for Outstanding Performance. The Panthonics was the school's first ensemble to be invited to perform for the Jazz Educators Network (JEN) and the FIU Jazz Vocal Ensemble were the first jazz vocal group to perform a concert at the Florida Music Educators Association (FMEA).
Lisanne was also a faculty member for 5 years for the Litchfield Jazz Summer Camp, coaching vocalists and working along-side an esteemed New York based jazz faculty. She also founded the jazz vocal area for the Young Musicians Camp at the University of Miami and the Palm Beach College jazz camp for several years. She is a sought-after clinician, adjudicator, and in-demand master teacher of jazz, commercial, and musical theatre voice. She has held residences at Old Dominion University, Southeastern Louisiana University, George Mason University, Osaka, Japan, Syracuse, New York, and many more. She has conducted many regional and All-State and Regional jazz vocal ensembles. Her performing and teaching had taken her throughout the U.S., Canada, Japan, Europe, and South America.
Lisanne has also produced two CDs, Right as the Rain and Smile. The first CD features arrangements by Chip McNeill, Tom Garling, and Michele Weir. The recording features a big band, strings, and a combo made up of some of the South Florida's top jazz musicians. The latter one features the John Toomey Trio with Chip McNeill with arrangements by John Toomey and Michele Weir.
