"Songs are not just entertainment but maps to historical, emotional and beautiful places.”
Lis Addison is a Composer, Musician, Dancer and Producer. She writes electro-acoustic vocal music in the Ambient, Classical Crossover, World, New Age and Electronic Music genres. She has composed and produced seventeen solo albums, soundtracks for film and dance and has over 12 Million streams on Spotify, Apple and Pandora. Lis is the creator of Kinetic Voice (KiVo) a vocal and dance program for health and wellness.
Addison has toured in Australia, Canada, France, Israel, Kenya, Mexico, New Zealand, Switzerland, Tanzania, the UK and the US. Her music has received favorable reviews in Africa, Australia, Canada, Europe, India, Korea, Mexico, Russia and the US. Lis has won awards from the World Entertainment Awards, the Pacific Composer's Forum, the National Endowment for the Arts and the Global Music Awards among others. Her last five albums have been in the top 10 of the International Charts.
With her Kinetic Voice program Lis has helped thousands of students worldwide tune their bodies like instruments and get in touch with the wisdom of their voices. One student said: “I could not have asked for a better guide to help me break through stuck emotions and open blocked Pathways in the body, mind, and spirit. Lis takes you on a journey through dance and voice with pleasure, grace, and love.”
Founding Director of the Singing Tree Institute non-profit, she and project Manager Mutinda have planted more than 7,000 trees in Kenya. Their mission is “to help mitigate the effects of global warming, provide food for African Villagers and document the songs and dances of the Kamba community.” On her many travels to Kenya, she makes nature field recordings and includes these in many of her music compositions.
Lis holds a BA in music composition and an MFA in electronic music from Mills College. She has taught at Expressions Digital Arts College and at the Globe Sound Healing Institute in the San Francisco Bay Area in California. She has been invited to teach Electronic Music at Kenyatta University in Nairobi, Kenya, as a Fulbright Scholarship finalist.
reviewS
“A truly immersive listening experience, the perfect blending of music and natural sounds that is almost certain to transport the listener to the Maasai Mara in Kenya . . . Songs from the Mara clearly shows how broad and deep her many musical talents are . . . Lis Addison has outdone herself, which is a bold statement based on her previous work.” Bill Binkelman
"Once again mystical artist Lis Addison . . . comes up with a fresh angle on chill out music . . . Like some musical alchemist, Addison uses voice, Sanskrit and English lyrics, and rich, stylistic music to deliver an album of colorful world rhythms . . . untraditional music that although can be traced back to the old world, is certainly needed in the present one." RJ Lannan
“From the very first notes, you know “Elements” . . . is something quite special. It’s phenomenal, in fact, in every direction . . .There is something quite magical and unforgettable about her voice as well as her compositions. It’s as if she unlocks every mystery in the universe with that voice . . . Voices are like snowflakes, each one its own unique imprint, and the soul can be “read” or recognized through the voice. Lis is one very special soul, full of light and love, and these qualities literally shine through her music and gently pour out onto us like soothing, healing balm... W e can literally feel ourselves effortlessly absorbing and experiencing what I’m going to call “light,” rather than simply just listening.” Dyan Garris
“It’s hard to know which to praise more on Lis Addison’s album, Elements – her (as always) amazing voice, the flowing melodies, the catchy chilled rhythms, the intermixed world beat influences, or the overwhelming positivity of the lyrics.” Bill Binkelmann
“Electronic soundscapes, jazz and classical piano, Indian vocals, and chill beats, gracefully blending into a meticulously conceived painting of melodies . . . The composer’s expertise and knowledge in Sanskrit and English mantras are evident in the meaningful pairing of the mantras as per their context and purport.” A. Sathyanarayanan