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Born and raised in Western Massachusetts in a town that prided itself on diversity and multi-culturalism. Her dad is a poet and art gallery owner who would make the eight year old Marisa read books by Kafka, and would ask her Dostoevsky-esque questions like "If you could kill one person and save the whole world, would that make it right?" Her mom is a massage therapist who converted to Judaism the day Marisa was born and believed deeply in the importance of music in developing an appreciation for life.. And when all the other children were belting, her mom had the strong inner perception to tell Marisa never to push her voice - that singing was only good if it was healthy.
Marisa wrote Tori Amos-like songs for a while, turned on Celine Dion and made up dances in her living room, played Gershwin piano concertos, fell in love with the intense drama and emotion of Beethoven. She performed professionally as an actress, directed a play about birds that were caged but didn´t realize they weren´t actually free. She marched outside her school holding signs about the importance of recycling; tried to be the kindest person in the history of the world... Failed many times. Studied music and drama at NYU and performed in musicals, sang new work, taught yoga, loved NYC. The winds shifted and she got a grant to study Indian Hindustani singing in India for four months, after which she came back more committed than ever to learning about the music of different cultures and writing from her heart. She continued to write theatre pieces, study the human being as singer, teach singing, find ways to listen harder. Traveled to Israel and fell in love with the silent music of the desert, belonged to a philosophy group, studied and learned about different religions. Wrote and sang and worked and taught. Marisa currently lives and teaches in Washington Heights. For details about her professional life, click here.
