MARISA MICHELSON is a singer, improviser, and award-winning composer of music-theatre, Musicals, oratorio and choral works, and was the founding director of the psychedelic singing ensemble Constellation Chor | an immersion in voice, movement, and spirit. She is also an active somatic voice and embodiment practitioner with many students on Broadway and pursuing other careers in the healing arts.

As an artist:

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Thanks to an ongoing residency at the historic Judson Memorial Church, Constellation Chor researched, rehearsed and performed in New York City and internationally for a decade.  They made their Lincoln Center debut in 2018 premiering Ash Fure’s Filament with the New York Philharmonic conducted by Jaap van Zweden. 

The Chor collaborated with such artists as Maria Popova, William Brittelle, Claire Chase, Miriam Parker, Sarah Hennies, Paola Prestini, Maria Popova, and with organizations such as National Sawdust, Pioneer Works, The Kitchen, Heartbeat Opera, Harvard Art Lab, and Studio 9 (Porches, Mass Moca). Their mostly improvised album, Constellation Chor at Modern Accord Depot is streaming on all platforms.

Marisa’s off-Broadway musicals and oratorios include Tamar of the River (two Drama Desk Nominations) written with Joshua H. Cohen and starring Margo Seibert - cast album streaming on all platforms, One Thousand Nights and One Day written with Jason Grote and starring Sepideh Moafi.

Marisa has also written choral pieces, including an oratorio (with Royce Vavrek) for five choirs and chamber orchestra, entitled Naamah’s Ark, a retelling of the story of “Noah’s Ark” from his wife’s point of view.  This oratorio has been produced four times, including in NYC starring Victoria Clark, and also in Salt Lake City as part of  the National Opera Association’s Sacred in Opera initiative.  

Marisa has written a number of short musicals including one with librettist Mark Campbell entitled The Other Room (Barrow Group Theatre, Inner Voices) which starred Phoebe Strole as Lena, a woman reflecting on her profound love for her friend Steve during the AIDS crisis in NYC in the 1990s. The Other Room was subsequently produced by Studios of Key West and Arbeit Opera Theater and is currently available for licensing.  The album starring Molly Ranson in the title role will be released in 2025. 
 
Her Desire|Divinity Project, a three part music-theater piece exploring the connection between sexuality and spirituality through an exegesis of the Song of Songs and Sappho’s poetry fragments received the inaugural Eric Salzman Award for Music Theatre, and a Creative Engagement Award from LMCC for the project. 
 
In 2021, Marisa collaborated with Miriam Parker and National Sawdust to create Beneath the Surface, a digital piece with voice and movement score for Marisa and Constellation Chor. 

As a singer, in addition to performing her own work, Marisa performed with Meredith Monk at BAM, and spent much of her early twenties originating roles in new experimental operas and musicals in NYC, such as Ophelia in Opera in Blue by Sergei Dreznin.

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Marisa’s compositions are available on major streaming platforms.

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As a teacher, coach and mentor:

Marisa founded the School of Vocal De-Armoring which offers singing lessons, embodiment sessions and liberatory coaching sessions. The Vocal De-Armoring Approach is a somatic, holistic approach to singing and voice-giving that connects us more intimately with the layered dimensions of Self. Marisa received her B.F.A in Performing Arts from New York University, holds the highest diploma level from the Libero Canto School of Singing, and holds a certificate in Integrative Somatic Trauma Therapy. She completed a year long Akashic Records Mentorship with Leah Garza and is currently training to become a certified Relateful Coach (Relatefulness invites clients to relate to themselves and the world with more presence and awareness).

Marisa has also been the vocal coach for Dave Malloy's musicals Three Houses and Octet at Signature Theatre, and she has taught workshops on composition, creativity and singing at Southern Utah University, Millikin University, and The American Theater Wing.
 

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Marisa lives, works, and teaches in upstate New York. www.marisamichelson.com