Home » Jazz Musicians » Lisa Thorson
Lisa Thorson
Lisa received a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Musical Theatre from the Boston Conservatory and a Master's Degree in Jazz Vocal Performance from New England Conservatory. She is an Associate Professor in the Voice Department at Berklee College of Music and has taught at New England Conservatory, Longy School of Music and Wellesley College.
Lisa has been nominated Outstanding Jazz Vocalist in the Boston Music Awards, received the Humanitarian Entertainer of the Year Award in 1989 from the Boston Encore Awards for Excellence in Cabaret and was nominated by actress Jane Alexander and received a Living Legacy Award in 1992 from the Women's International Foundation in San Diego, Ca. In 1996 she received an award from the Massachusetts Coalition for Citizens with Disabilities. Lisa is the subject of an award winning documentary 'Key Changes; A Portrait of Lisa Thorson', produced by filmmaker Cindy Marshalll in 1995 and ‘Lisa and Friends’, produced by Virginia Bartlett in 1982. Her work has been supported by the National Endowment for the Arts and numerous public and private foundations.
Lisa has been a leader in the advocacy for full access to the arts for people of all abilities since 1980. She co-founded Next Move Unlimited, one of the first professional theater companies to bring performers with and issues of disability to the stage. She worked for over 15 years as an arts accessibility consultant with the National Endowment for the Arts and numerous non-profit, corporate and public organizations, including five years on the Board of the MA Cultural Council, a state agency.
In addition to her work as a vocal and jazz educator, Lisa’s current projects include, leading her jazz quintet, Boswellmania; A Tribute to the Boswell Sisters and JazzArtSigns; a multi-media, multi-sensory event.
Tags
Lisa Thorson: Lisa Thorson Quartet - Live
by C. Michael Bailey
Lisa Thorson is a Boston-based vocalist and educator (she is a professor of voice at Berklee College of Music). She has release three recordings: From This Moment On (Brownstone, 1994), Resonance (GM Recordings, 1999) and Out to Sea (Self Produced, 2002). Even a dedicated teacher must spread her creative wings from time to time, and Thorson does so the present Lisa Thorson Quartet Live recorded at Scullers Jazz Club in Boston (a favorite haunt for fellow Boston vocalists Rebecca Parris ...
read moreLisa Thorson's Opening of the Jazz Stage
by Norman Weinstein
Jazz composer and vocalist Lisa Thorson has long been a leader in making live jazz accessible to the broadest possible audience. In the words of the blues great Sonny Boy Williamson, she brings eyesight to the blind", and from just one word from her lips,... the deaf can hear." To achieve such miraculous feats, Thorson, unlike the lusty lover of Williamson's blues, depends on a jazz quintet, a painter, two ASL (American Sign Language) interpreters, and closed caption experts, to ...
read moreLisa Thorson: Resonance
by Jim Santella
Members of the Boston area Lisa Thorson Five have been friends for eleven years; the group’s firm cohesiveness is a direct result. A student of Sheila Jordan, the singer/leader presents modern mainstream vocal art with obvious nods to Erik Satie and Thelonious Monk. Each artist solos and everybody works together on the thrilling arrangements. Spontaneity and surprise show up in the arranged phrases as well as the improvised work.
Thorson’s flexible voice fills several roles: scat singer, quasi-horn player, lyrical ...
read moreArt-Reach Presents Philadelphia Premiere of Jazzartsigns on November 19th at 7PM
Source:
All About Jazz
Multi-Disciplinary Performance Is Accessible to All Audiences JazzArtSigns performers include Lisa Thorson, vocals; Cercie Miller, saxophones; Doug Johnson, piano; David Clark, bass; George Schuller, drums; Nancy Ostrovsky, improvisational painter; Jody Steiner, ASL interpreter; Vince Lombardi, audio describer; and Don DePew of The Caption Coalition. PHILADELPHIA, PA - Art-Reach, the nonprofit organization that provides access to the arts for people with disabilities and economic disadvantages, will present the Philadelphia premiere of JazzArtSigns, a universally accessible live performance that incorporates jazz music ...
read more
Lisa Thorson Presents JazzArtSigns in Boston March 9
Source:
All About Jazz
SEE, HEAR, FEEL THE MUSIC: JAZZARTSIGNS, THE CUTTING-EDGE ARTS AND MUSIC EVENT OF THE UPCOMING YEAR PRESENTED IN BOSTON MARCH 9, 2006 BY VSA ARTS OF MASSACHUSETTS AND WHEELOCK FAMILY THEATRE
Acclaimed Vocalist Lisa Thorson Improvises with Her Band, American Sign Language Interpreters, and a Painter, Along With Live Audio Describer and Text Captioner
Making Live Jazz Accessible To All People With and Without Disabilities
VSA arts of Massachusetts and Wheelock Family Theatre, both celebrating their 25th anniversary seasons, are ...
read more
Music
Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson