Lisa Marie Simmons

Lisa Marie Simmons is an American singer, songwriter, and poet based in Sirmione, Italy. She is the lead vocalist and lyricist of the spoken-word jazz ensemble NoteSpeak, co-founded with Italian pianist and composer Marco Cremaschini. Simmons's 2023 album NoteSpeak 12 received a five-star review in DownBeat and was named to the magazine's annual list of the Best Albums of 2023. In 2026, she won the Grand Prize in the Jazz category of the John Lennon Songwriting Contest for "Shaping the Yet-to-Be", having previously been a 2025 finalist for "Worm in a Book". She has performed at the 59th Venice Biennale in 2022 and debuted at Carnegie Hall in 2025.

Early life

Simmons was born in Boulder, Colorado, where she was adopted at age eight into a transracial family and sang in youth choirs. She moved to New York City at nineteen to study theatre and voice at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts. After working in New York, she relocated to northern Italy, settling near Lake Garda.

Music career

Simmons formed the ensemble NoteSpeak with pianist and composer Marco Cremaschini. In 2020, they released NoteSpeak (Amori e Tragedie in Musica) on Ropeadope Records, which received a four-star rating in DownBeat. Their 2023 follow-up, NoteSpeak 12, received five stars in DownBeat, and was named to DownBeat's Best Albums of 2023.

In late 2023, Simmons and Cremaschini were inaugural Artists-in-Residence at the State University of New York at Oneonta, where they recorded material for their third album, NoteSpeak (In a Word).

As a live performer, Simmons appeared at the 59th Venice Biennale in October 2022 during Simone Leigh's symposium *Loophole of Retreat: Venice* at the Fondazione Giorgio Cini. On July 25, 2025, she made her debut at Carnegie Hall, performing in Weill Recital Hall as a guest spoken-word poet alongside composer and pianist Charu Suri.

Awards and recognition

Studio albums