Simona Smirnova

Simona Smirnova is a Lithuanian born jazz vocalist, composer and kanklės player based in New York City. She’s a fixture in the New York live scene with her quartet when she’s not touring the world, including Australia, New Zealand and Europe. Smirnova’s genre-bending style has a unique theatrical flavor and uncanny vocal improvisation techniques. She deftly implements chamber music, Lithuanian zither – kanklės and folkloric chants into foundations of jazz and rock.
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Smirnova’s second album, Joan of Arc, for String Quartet, is an original composition written as a soundtrack for the classic Carl Dreyer silent film The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928). The album is a cinematic landscape of chamber pop, jazz and folklore. Simona's latest work, it's her third album "Bird Language" which was released on April 8, 2022. The record combines jazz and Lithuanian folk music written for jazz quartet, string quartet, vocal ensemble, zither and saxophone. You can hear Simona performing her "Bird Language" act in the New York jazz scene on a regular basis.
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Classically trained on Lithuanian zither – kanklės, Smirnova earned her BA in jazz vocals at the Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theater. Shortly after receiving the European Touring Scholarship, she moved to the United States to study at Berklee College of Music where she earned a degree in Contemporary Composition and Production. Simona is a very active member of the musician community around the globe; she is an Alumna of the prestigious Berklee College of Music, a mentor at Berklee Alumni Mentorship program, she is a voting member of Grammy Recording Academy, a mentor at Grammy U program, and a composer member of New York Composers Circle (NYCC).