Sissy Handler (born 6 May 1976 in

Graz Graz () is the capital of the Austrian Federal states of Austria, federal state of Styria and the List of cities and towns in Austria, second-largest city in Austria, after Vienna. On 1 January 2025, Graz had a population of 306,068 (343,461 inc ...

) is an

Austrian Austrian may refer to: * Austrians, someone from Austria or of Austrian descent ** Someone who is considered an Austrian citizen * Austrian German dialect * Something associated with the country Austria, for example: ** Austria-Hungary ** Austria ...

singer, songwriter,

vocal coach A vocal coach, also known as a voice coach (though this term often applies to those working with speech and communication rather than singing), is a music teacher, usually a piano accompanist, who helps singers prepare for a performance, often al ...

and producer. She is best known under her stage name of MisSiss. Her music is mainly pop,

soul The soul is the purported Mind–body dualism, immaterial aspect or essence of a Outline of life forms, living being. It is typically believed to be Immortality, immortal and to exist apart from the material world. The three main theories that ...

, R&B and

gospel Gospel originally meant the Christianity, Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the second century Anno domino, AD the term (, from which the English word originated as a calque) came to be used also for the books in which the message w ...

Life and work

Sissy Handler comes from a musical family. After obtaining her certificate of secondary education from

Fürstenfeld Fürstenfeld (; ) is a small historic city in Styria, Austria. It is situated near the border with Hungary, which is why the city was originally founded. The town has become quite famous in Austria and Germany because of the song by the same name ...

high school, she attended the tourism college in

Bad Gleichenberg Bad Gleichenberg is a municipality in the district of Südoststeiermark in the Austrian state of Styria Styria ( ; ; ; ) is an Austrian Federal states of Austria, state in the southeast of the country. With an area of approximately , Styria ...

. She then sang in several pop, soul and blues bands before taking classical voice training with Margarita Kyriaki-Wagner and additional singing lessons with Romana Carén, Dean Kaelin, Mary Ann Kehler, Wendy Parr and Leon Bérrange. She subsequently developed her special interest in

black music Music of the African diaspora is a sound created, produced, or inspired by Black people, including Music of Africa, African music traditions and African popular music as well as the music genres of the African diaspora, including some Caribbean mus ...

, especially in soul, R&B and gospel. Her first musical role as Sister Robert Ann in

Nunsense ''Nunsense'' (1985) is a musical comedy with a book, music, and lyrics by Dan Goggin. Originating as a line of greeting cards, Goggin expanded the concept into a cabaret show that ran for 38 weeks, and eventually into a full-length musical. The o ...

was followed by further projects. In 2006, she founded the Soulistics, the band with which she still performs her own songs in full orchestration. She also reached the finals in the 2008 Ö3 sound check with her single ''Diva'' backed by her band ''Soulistics''. The album of the same name, launched in the summer of 2012, had been planned beforehand, and production of the album had already started. At the same time, she was also singing with the gospel/soul/pop ensemble ''Gospel and More'', a group she has been singing with since 2006. Together with Ingrid Diem, she founded ''Voicedimensions'' – vocal training and coaching for aspiring professionals the following year. In 2015, together with Veronika Fiegl, Handler founded the platform ''You're the Voice'', a workshop series for aspiring singers and professional singers. Her collaboration with the Argentine producer Ariel Gato resulted in the album ''Sissita's Soul Tangos'' with Fernando Suárez Paz (

Astor Piazzolla Astor Pantaleón Piazzolla (, ; March 11, 1921 – July 4, 1992) was an Argentine tango composer, bandoneon player, and arranger. His works revolutionized the traditional tango into a new style termed '' nuevo tango'', incorporating elements fr ...

’s first violinist) and Gabriel Senanes (former conductor of the

Teatro Colón The Teatro Colón () is a historic opera house in Buenos Aires, Argentina. It is considered one of the ten best opera houses in the world by National Geographic. According to a survey carried out by the acoustics expert Leo Beranek among leadin ...

). This was followed by live tours with these Argentine musicians, in 2010 in South America, and in 2011 in Germany and Austria. ''Sissita's Soul Tangos'' has been broadcast on over eighty German radio stations to date. At the end of 2011, she sang as a member of the gospel quartet Gospel & More the ''Coca Cola Truck Tour'' and was seen as a gospel singer in the Christmas film "Weihnachtsengel küsst man nicht". She brought out her second album ''Soulistics'' in the summer of 2012. In 2014, the single ''He's So Special'' became

Radio Wien Radio Wien is the regional radio for Vienna, and is part of the Österreich 2 group. It is broadcast by the ORF, and the programs from Radio Wien are made in the ORF Wien Studio. Music Radio Wien plays pop and rock music, often old songs but a ...

’s summer hit of the year. She also works as a singer and songwriter with colleagues like Eva Maria Marold, for whom she wrote the songs for the album ''Ziemlich 30''. She also worked as a composer, texter and singer with

Christoph Brüx Christoph Brüx (born 13 December 1965) is a German sculptor, painter, composer, pianist, keyboardist, arranger and music producer. He composed for artists such as No Angels, Matthias Reim, The Underdog Project ( ''Summer Jam''), Brooklyn Bou ...

Discography

* 2011: ''"Sissita's Soul Tangos"'', album, with Ariel Gato. * 2011: ''“Nightmares”'', single and music video * 2011: ''“A New Life”'', single * 2011: ''“A New Life Remix”'' of club jumpers, single * 2012: ''“Soulistics”,'' album, with Florian Hirschmann, Hannes Breitschädel and Ariel Gato. * 2012: ''"Diva"'', single and music video * 2013: ''"Diva Remix"'' remix of Bart & Baker, single on "Electro Swing" compilation * 2013: ''"It's Christmas Time"'', single * 2014: ''"He's So Special",'' single * 2016: ''"This love is golden"'', Single, Sealight/Tap-Water Records * 2017: ''„Do you wanna marry me?"'', Single, Sealight/Tap-Water Records * 2017: ''„Colors of Love"'', Album, Sealight/Tap-Water Records

Films

* 2011: ''"Weihnachtsengel küsst man nicht",'' (

ORF ORF or Orf may refer to: * Norfolk International Airport, IATA airport code ORF * Observer Research Foundation, an Indian research institute * One Race Films, a film production company founded by Vin Diesel * Open reading frame, a portion of the g ...

ZDF ZDF (), short for (; ), is a German public-service television broadcaster based in Mainz, Rhineland-Palatinate. Launched on 1 April 1963, it is run as an independent nonprofit institution, and was founded by all federal states of Germany ( ...

/ ARD)

Other performances

* 2007: Danube Island Festival with Gospel and More on the World Music Stage. * 2010: South America Tour with Sissita's Soul Tangos (Argentina, Uruguay)''Llega a Uruguay la cantante austríaca MisSiss.''
from:

El País (; ) is a Spanish-language daily newspaper in Spain. is based in the capital city of Madrid and it is owned by the Spanish media conglomerate PRISA. It is the second-most circulated daily newspaper in Spain . is the most read newspaper in ...

Digital, called May 3, 2016. * 2013: ''Classic World Hits Tour'' in China

Awards

* 2011: Short list for Grammy Awards with ''"Sissita's Soul Tangos"'' * 2012: Recommendation for Grammy Awards with ''"Soulistics"''

External links

official website MisSiss

Soulistics website

Gospel & More website

References

{{authority control 21st-century Austrian women singers English-language singers from Austria Living people 1976 births Austrian singer-songwriters Austrian women singer-songwriters