Latest News

Vermont Arts Council – People’s Choice Award

Vermont friends, family and fans – I’ve been collaborating with my dear friend Susan Haefner on a musical based on her grandma Alma Kern’s life, called ALMA. We are up for a Vermont Arts Council People’s Choice Award, with the potential to win up to $5000 for project development. If you are so inspired, I hope you will consider voting for us (we are Project #48), and also helping spread the word to other Vermonters. You must be a Vermont resident to vote and 18 year of age or older.  You may only vote once.  NOTE: Deadline to vote is September 17th. VOTE HERE. Thank you so much!

Annual Launch of Sing for Hope

Lisa Brigantino will be one of twenty pianists who will play Johann Sebastian Bach’s Prelude in C Major from The Well Tempered Clavier in unison at the annual launch of Sing for Hope pianos at Fosun Plaza in Manhattan on Monday, June 12th.  The event begins at 9am with a free concert starting at noon, including the Rwandan Women’s Drumming Group, the Sing for Hope Youth Chorus and the choruses from LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts.  The Prelude will be played in unison by the twenty pianists at 12:30pm.  Those twenty pianos will then be taken to places around the five boroughs for anyone to play.

Sunset Singing Circle 2023

The Sunset Singing Circle is back for 2023! Join us from 7pm ’til 8:30pm on these Fridays in May and June – May 12, 19, 26 and June 2, 9,16 and 30. PLEASE NOTE! This year we are in a new location and will be meeting right outside of the Irish Hunger Memorial in Battery Park City. Led by Terre Roche, we’ll group sing well-known songs ranging from Traditional and Folk to Pop, Rock and more as the sun sets over the Hudson River. Lyric books are provided. All are welcome! Visit https://lisabrigantino.com/upcoming-events for more info.

Kin Ya See That Sun review in Acoustic Guitar Magazine

Lovely review of Terre Roche’s album “Kin Ya See That Sun,” that I had the honor of co-producing, in Acoustic Guitar Magazine by Blair Jackson: “One of the coolest releases of 2022, Kin Ya See That Sun brings together 15 previously unreleased live and studio tracks by two of the three singing Roche sisters, Terre and Maggie, who were a performing folk duo dating back to their teen years…The sisters’ instantly identifiable vocal harmonies are of course in evidence throughout the album, as is the blend of tunes that range from classic folk tropes to odd, sometimes funny musings on life that can sound like bits of overheard conversation (or someone thinking out loud)…” Read the whole review HERE.

Kin Ya See That Sun – filmed live at City Winery

We had a great time performing with Terre Roche at her sold-out show at City Winery on October 18th. Check out this video of our performance of the song “Kin Ya See That Sun.”

Kin Ya See That Sun is officially released

Kin Ya See That Sun, the new album which contains mostly live recordings of Terre and Maggie Roche performing many songs that first appeared on their Seductive Reasoning duo album, as well as some songs that have never been released before, has been officially released as of October 21, 2022.

This release is also a book with lyrics, photographs, drawings and recollections from various people who remember Terre and Maggie from way back when. You can order the book HERE.

The audio album is available on Apple Music, Amazon and other music platforms.

I am a co-producer on the album and my husband Thomas Millioto did all the audio restoration and mastered the album. We are both so honored to have worked with Terre Roche on this project and are so excited to share it with the world!

Terre Roche at City Winery Loft

I’m thrilled to announce that Lori Brigantino, Thomas Millioto, Garry Dial and I will be joining Terre Roche on her upcoming SOLD OUT show at the City Winery Loft.  on Tuesday, October 18th at 7:30pm in New York, NY.  This show is in celebration of the release of the new album Kin Ya See That Sun which contains mostly live recordings of Terre and Maggie Roche performing many songs that first appeared on their Seductive Reasoning duo album, as well as some songs that have never been released before. The show will feature songs old and new.  This release is also a book with lyrics, photographs, drawings and recollections from various people who remember Terre and Maggie from way back when. You can pre-order the book here.   Tom and I are honored to have worked with Terre on this project and are so excited for it to see the light of day!

“The Wickham Way” at Hackensack Performing Arts Center

THE WICKHAM WAY a play by Rachel Rubin-Ladutke with four original songs by yours truly, had its first live run in August at Hackensack Performing Arts Center, produced by Teaneck New Theatre.  Congrats to the cast and crew for a job well done!

“An Iliad” Talkback

I’m back from five weeks away in New Hampshire where I composed music and performed it in the play An Iliad, written by Lisa Peterson and Denis O’Hare, at Shaker Bridge Theatre.  I had a terrific time working on this unique, challenging and collaborative production with actor David Bonanno and director Susan Haefner.

Check out this talkback we did after the Sunday April 24th performance of the play that also included Dartmouth College Classics Professor Roberta Stewart, who leads book discussions on the Classics with Veterans.  I fielded some questions about the music towards the end of the talkback. Thanks to Okemo Valley TV for filming!

Auditions for a live production of “The Wickham Way”

Teaneck New Theatre announces AUDITIONS for THE WICKHAM WAY, a new play by Rachel Rubin Ladutke with original music by Lisa Brigantino. Director: Arlene Schulman. This is a NON-EQUITY Production.

Synopsis: Liza Cooper, an up-and-coming folk singer, returns to her native Wickham, Vermont with her girlfriend Marti in tow. Liza fled Wickham ten years earlier, after a traumatic experience on the eve of her high school graduation. She vowed never to return…until an important occasion demands her presence. Over the course of an emotionally fraught weekend, Liza wrestles to come to terms with her past, in the form of her estranged childhood best friend, Charlie, and makes significant choices about her future with Marti.

Because Liza is a professional musician, THE WICKHAM WAY features four songs by Lisa Brigantino.

CHARACTER BREAKDOWN:

LIZA COOPER – female – 27 – lesbian – A rising singer/songwriter. Returning to Wickham from NYC where she lives with the love of her life, Liza is creative, talented, and loving, but has serious trust issues and is petrified about confronting her past. In this production Liza sings four songs accompanying herself on guitar.

MARTI (MARTHA) KAPLAN – female – 29 – lesbian – Liza’s life partner. Supportive, caring, self-confident, protective and totally in love with Liza, she is on the verge of emerging from the corporate world. She is new to Wickham but excited to be wherever life with Liza takes her.

SHELBY BREWSTER – female – late 30s. Liza’s aunt, Shelby is quirky, warm and caring. With a heart of gold she is the kind of person everyone confides their troubles to.

CHARLIE MORSE – male – 27 – gay. Liza’s childhood best friend. Charlie doesn’t understand why Liza left Wickham and he misses his best friend terribly. He is hurt by his grandfather’s seeming rejection over his sexuality. He is, by nature, affectionate, carefree, playful, family-oriented, and open. All he really wants is for his world to be back to the way it was.

ABNER MORSE – male – late 70’s. A wonderful, crotchety old New Englander (from generations back), Abner is Charlie’s grandfather, Liza’s high school English teacher, Shelby’s neighbor and the owner of The Wayfarer Inn. He is recently widowed and still grieving. He has serious difficulty understanding and dealing with Charlie’s sexuality.

Auditions:Sunday, May 15th from 12 p.m. to 4 p.m.(Open call for all roles. Please attend THIS DATE if you would like to audition for Liza.) Location: The Woodrow Wilson School, 81 Hauxhurst Avenue, Weehawken, NJ on Tuesday, May 24th from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. Additional actors will be seen and callbacks, as needed, will also be held. What to Prepare: Sides will be provided at the audition.***

ANYONE AUDITIONING FOR LIZA WILL BE EXPECTED TO DO THE FOLLOWING: **** Play 32 bars of a song in the folk style on an acoustic steel string guitar, using a pick, while singing along; AND* Play 32 bars of a song in the folk style on an acoustic steel string guitar, while fingerpicking and singing along. (Bring your own guitar!)All actors auditioning for LIZA should attend the SUNDAY, MAY 15th audition. If this is not possible, please send a video showing the above singing/playing to these following email addresses: [email protected], [email protected].

Rehearsals will begin in late June/early July. Performances will be at the Hackensack Performing Arts Center. Tech: August 14th-18th. Shows: August 19th, 20th (two shows) and 21st.