Moira Smiley (Moira Gwendolyn Smiley, born 21 May 1976) is an American singer, composer, lyricist and musician born in

New Haven, Vermont New Haven is a New England town, town in Addison County, Vermont, United States. The population was 1,683 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. In addition to the New Haven (CDP), Vermont, town center, New Haven contains the communities o ...

. She is a multi-instrumentalist on banjo, accordion, piano, and body percussion. Smiley's music has been influenced by folk styles, shape-note singing, classical song, and jazz. Smiley has performed and collaborated with various artists including

Billy Childs William Edward Childs (born March 8, 1957) is an American composer, jazz pianist, arranger and conductor from Los Angeles, California, United States. Early life When he was 16, Childs attended the Community School of the Performing Arts sponsored ...

, Solas,

Jayme Stone Jayme Stone is a Canadian banjoist, composer and producer who makes music inspired by sounds from around the world. His solo album '' The Utmost'' won the 2008 Juno Award for Instrumental Album of the Year. Stone has studied with Béla Fleck's t ...

's The Lomax Project, choral composer

Eric Whitacre Eric Edward Whitacre (born January2, 1970) is an American composer, conductor, and speaker best known for his choral music. Early life Whitacre was born in Reno, Nevada, to Ross and Roxanne Whitacre. He studied piano intermittently as a child a ...

Los Angeles Master Chorale The Los Angeles Master Chorale is a professional Choir, chorus in Los Angeles, California, and one of the resident companies of both The Music Center and Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles. It was founded in 1964 by Roger Wagner to be one ...

New World Symphony New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 ** "New" (Paul McCartney song), 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, 1995 * "New" (Daya song), 2017 * "New" (No Doubt song), 19 ...

, and often tours with eclectic

indie-pop Indie pop (also typeset as indie-pop or indiepop) is a music genre and subculture that combines guitar pop with a DIY ethic in opposition to the style and tone of mainstream pop music. It originated from British post-punk in the late 1970s and ...

group

Tune-Yards Tune-Yards (stylized as tUnE-yArDs) is the Oakland, California–based music project of Merrill Garbus (vocals, various instruments) and Nate Brenner (bass, various instruments). Garbus's music draws from an eclectic variety of sources and use ...

Early life and education

Smiley grew up in rural

. As a teenager, she began teaching at the Village Harmony Summer Camps. Smiley was among the 9 composers from Village Harmony that were represented on the Endless Light recording in 1996. She entered Indiana University's

Jacobs School of Music The Indiana University Jacobs School of Music in Bloomington, Indiana, is a music conservatory established in 1921. Until 2005, it was known as the Indiana University School of Music. It has more than 1,500 students, approximately half of whom ar ...

in 1994 as a Wells Scholar to study piano performance, and earned her degree in

Early Music Early music generally comprises Medieval music (500–1400) and Renaissance music (1400–1600), but can also include Baroque music (1600–1750) or Ancient music (before 500 AD). Originating in Europe, early music is a broad Dates of classical ...

Vocal Performance. After college she traveled and studied the

folk music Folk music is a music genre that includes #Traditional folk music, traditional folk music and the Contemporary folk music, contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be ca ...

and multi-part harmonies of

Eastern Europe Eastern Europe is a subregion of the Europe, European continent. As a largely ambiguous term, it has a wide range of geopolitical, geographical, ethnic, cultural and socio-economic connotations. Its eastern boundary is marked by the Ural Mountain ...

(Croatia, Bosnia, Serbia, Bulgaria) as well as the traditional Irish Sean Nós singing.

Career

While at

Indiana University Indiana University (IU) is a state university system, system of Public university, public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana. The system has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration o ...

she founded the vocal quartet VIDA, which won Bloomington Voice's Battle of the Bands contest. They went on to perform across the U.S. and Europe as part of the IMG Artists roster. She also began performing and recording with early music ensembles such as Paul Hillier's Theater of Voices
Sinfonye
The

Dufay Collective The Dufay Collective is an early-music ensemble from the United Kingdom, specializing in Medieval and Renaissance music. Founded in 1987, it was named after the Renaissance composer Guillaume Dufay. The group is directed by William Lyons. Group ...

and

Fretwork Fretwork is an interlaced decorative design that is either carved in low relief on a solid background, or cut out with a fretsaw, coping saw, jigsaw or scroll saw. Most fretwork patterns are geometric in design. The materials most commonly u ...

Consort of Viols as well as with American composer, Malcolm Dalglish. In 2005 she released her first solo album ''Rua''. The following year she released ''Blink'', her first album with her vocal group VOCO. In 2013 Smiley and her group VOCO performed "Music for a Three-Layer Brain" for the TEDxCaltech "The Brain" event. In 2018 she began collaborating with the Seamus Egan Project, performing vocals and accordion. She sang "Days of War", her song written with

Séamus Egan Seamus Egan is an Irish-American musician. Early days Seamus Egan was born in Hatboro, Pennsylvania to Irish immigrants Mike and Ann Egan. At the age of three his parents moved the family back home to County Mayo, Ireland. He learned accordio ...

for a concert on Front Row Boston. In 2018 she released her second solo album, ''Unzip the Horizon'', which The Bluegrass Situation called "the work of a significant talent finding new possibilities in her voice." In 2018 and 2019, Smiley led an immersive ''a cappella'' experience with the Los Angeles Master Chorale at the

Walt Disney Concert Hall The Walt Disney Concert Hall at 111 South Grand Avenue in downtown Los Angeles, California, is the fourth hall of the Los Angeles Music Center and was designed by Frank Gehry. It was opened on October 23, 2003. Bounded by Hope Street, Grand Av ...

's BIG SING California event. In February, 2021 she released the vocal album, ''In Our Voices.''

Awards

In 2002, Smiley won the Barbara Thornton Memorial Scholarship for Medieval Music, given by the Sequentia Ensemble. In 2007, Smiley (along with fellow composers Ron Bartlett, Charlie Campagna) won the annual ''Lester Horton Award'' for "Music for Dance" for a score commissioned by choreographers Regina Klenjoski and Monica Favand for Klenjoski's ''The Black Drim,'' which was subsequently performed by Smiley & VOCO (along with the TRIP Music Ensemble) for the ''Synergy'' concert at the

John Anson Ford Amphitheatre The John Anson Ford Amphitheatre, officially nicknamed The Ford, is a music venue in the Hollywood Hills of Los Angeles, California. The 1,200-seat outdoor amphitheatre is situated within the Cahuenga Pass within the Santa Monica Mountains, direct ...

'','' in LA. In 2007, her ensemble Moira Smiley & VOCO were named national champions of the 30+ year old

Harmony Sweepstakes A Cappella Festival The Harmony Sweepstakes A Cappella Festival is an annual showcase and competition for a cappella groups of all vocal styles. The competition is organized into seven regional events across the United States, with each winning group advancing to the ...

Discography

Solo albums

* The Rhizome Project (2024) * Unzip The Horizon (2018) * Rua (2005)

Singles

* Meeting Is Over (featuring Piers Faccini & Seamus Egan) * Oh, Watch The Stars (with Seamus Egan & Kaïa Kater) * Sing About It (Naytronix Remix) * Mourning Dove (featuring Seamus Egan)

With VOCO

* In Our Voices (2021) * Laughter Out of Tears (2014) * Small Worlds (2009) * Circle, Square, Diamond and Flag (2008) * Blink (2006)

With VIDA

* Blue Album (2000) * In Bloom(1999) * Vida (1997)

Soundtracks

* Changing Woman (2002) * Sacred Ground (2001)

Album Collaborations

* The Lomax Project ayme Stone* Folklife Project ayme Stone* All These Years olas* Solas Live olas* Good Winter eamus Egan

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Smiley, Moira Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Singers from Vermont Songwriters from Vermont People from New Haven, Vermont 21st-century American composers 21st-century American women singers 21st-century American women composers Jacobs School of Music alumni