User:Colliedog/sandbox/Moira Smiley (Musician)

Moira Smiley (born 21 May 1976) is an American singer, composer, lyricist and musician who was born in New Haven, Vermont to Susan and Jerome Smiley.

A vocal polyglot, Smiley’s voice and compositions have been featured in TED conferences, on BBC Radio and TV, NPR, ABC Australia, and live at countless venues from Lincoln Center and Carnegie Hall to Walt Disney Concert Hall and Royal Festival Hal l. She’s performed with the likes of Ladysmith Black Mambazo, Tim O’Brien, Eric Whitacre, Los Angeles Master Chorale, New World Symphony, and The Lyris String Quartet. Moira’s original compositions, choral arrangements, and folk music are being sung around the world today.

When she’s not leading her own vocal group, Moira Smiley & VOCO, Moira tours and records with pop artist, Tune-Yards; Seamus Egan and his Seamus Egan Project, Irish super-group SOLAS; The Lomax and Folklife Projects; and Billy Childs’ Grammy Award winning album “Laura Nyro Re-Imagined”.

Early Life and Education
Moira Smiley grew up in a country farmhouse in rural Vermont. She studied piano performance and early music vocal performance at Indiana University’s Jacobs School of Music. While at Indiana University she founded the vocal quartet, VIDA, which went on to perform across the U.S. and Europe as part of the IMG Artists roster.

Career
While at Indiana University she founded the vocal quartet, VIDA, which went on to perform across the U.S. and Europe as part of the IMG Artists roster. She also began performing and recording with early music ensembles such as Paul Hillier’s Theater of Voices, Sinfonye, The Dufay Collective and Fretwork Consort of Viols as well as with American composer, Malcolm Dalglish.

In 2013, she presented a talk/musical program about the triune brain at TEDx Caltech

Moira premiered her solo album ‘Unzip The Horizon’ at the prestigious Savannah Music Festival in 2018, and published its companion choral Songbook in 2019. In February, 2021 she released the vocal album, In Our Voices."

Musicianship
Moira is known above all for her vocal abilities, used as its own musical instrument, and for her harmonies with others. Along with solos accompanied by various ensembles, she frequently plays banjo, accordion, piano, and uses body percussion in her songs and performances. Her music frequently focuses on social justice themes, from the plight of refugees and ravages of war to the injustices and inequities faced by the oppressed in a the world where she believes hope can ultimately be found in the creation and celebration of music with others. "Smiley also knows the power of a heartfelt lyric. And she has combined magnificent vocals with perceptive, insightful lyrics on her latest work "In Our Voices.” It brims with personal, political and social relevance."

Compositions
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Solo Albums

 * Unzip The Horizon (2018)
 * Rua (2005)

With VOCO

 * In Our Voices (2021)
 * Laughter Out of Tears (2014)
 * Small Worlds (2009)
 * Circle, Square, Diamond and Flag (2008)
 * Blink (2006)

With VIDA

 * Blue Album (2000)
 * In Bloom(1999)
 * Vida (1997)

Soundtracks

 * Changing Woman (2002)
 * Sacred Ground (2001)

Other Appearances
In 2021 Moira was the special guest for the Jukebox Quartet's statewide tour. Jukebox consists of four musicians from The Vermont Symphony Orchestra (Brooke Quiggins, Laura Markowitz, Stefanie Taylor, and John Dunlop on cello).

TV and Radio Appearance
She sang with Tune-yards on the Late Show with Stephen Colbert, February 22, 2021