Lisa Hindmarsh - Jazz Vocalist

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Biography

Vocalist Lisa Hindmarsh’s reputation continues to grow in the musical world. She is regarded by her peers and by listeners as a musician of consummate technical skill and a performer of great versatility and depth.

Lisa's greatest musical love has always been jazz. While growing up in Fayette City, Pennsylvania, south of Pittsburgh, her father, locally-known Hammond B-3 player Barry Hindmarsh, had an extensive collection of vocal and instrumental recordings that Lisa would play on the stereo "until you could see through them." A school performance at age 8, singing "O Little Town of Bethlehem" over the public address system, convinced Lisa that she wanted to be a singer, and she credits the legendary Nancy Wilson as her greatest (and earliest) vocal influence. In addition, she discovered and developed her instinctive gift for rhythm while listening to the popular bossa nova and samba sounds of groups like Brasil '66 and the songs of Antonio Carlos Jobim, among others.

Lisa was a child of the '70s pop music era as well, and was also heavily influenced by singers such as Karen Carpenter and Barbra Streisand, "like any other young girl who wanted to be a singer back then." From the beginning, her intelligent ear was beginning to focus itself on singers known for their skill, phrasing, and ability to touch an audience. Even as a teenager, Lisa believed deeply in the importance of genuine and honest emotional communication with her audience through the music. To that end, her already sophisticated ear naturally sought out quality songs, and she studied them intently, phrase by phrase, so that the message and the emotion of the song would be first and foremost in her performances. Everywhere she performed, listeners remarked on the emotional maturity and level of polish already evident in so young a singer.

Opting for a college education, Lisa earned a Bachelor of Music in Voice (magna cum laude) from West Virginia University and a Master of Music in Voice (summa cum laude) from Marshall University, supporting herself throughout by singing at weddings, in churches and with various bands. After graduate school, she returned to Pittsburgh and quickly began establishing herself as a soloist with prominent choral groups and at various large churches in the city

From 1993 through the end of 2000, Lisa was the alto member of the enormously popular Pittsburgh-based a cappella quintet, InVoice. The critically acclaimed group performed regularly throughout the Pittsburgh region, and released a very successful recording, Out of Nowhere, in 1998 (click here to buy). A performance at Pittsburgh's Three Rivers Arts Festival caught the attention of Denis Colwell, conductor of the River City Brass Band, and led InVoice to a series of performances with the RCBB and a guest appearance on their Big Band Brass CD. It also led to an opportunity for Lisa to perform again with the Band, throughout the Pittsburgh area and on tour in the Midwest, as 1/3 of a female trio performing music of the Andrews Sisters.

Lisa released her debut solo recording, Now I Know, in late 2000, to unanimous critical and audience acclaim (click here to read reviews). The recording was nominated for 2001 Jazz/Cabaret Album of the Year by Just Plain Folks, a national organization of industry professionals and independent artists, and finished third out of eight nominees. Her followup recording, Lost in a Summer Night, was released in late 2002, again to unanimous acclaim. While in Pittsburgh, Lisa enjoyed a very busy and successful career that included performances at many of the city’s leading jazz venues as well as major corporate and private events.

Lisa moved from Pittsburgh to the northern New Jersey metro area in July 2003, and she is currently networking to establish contacts and begin performing throughout the region and beyond.

Lisa may be contacted by phone at 973-208-7835, or by e-mail.