Lisa DeSiro is a multi-faceted and versatile creative artist. Born in Syracuse, NY, she has lived in the Greater Boston area since 1993. Throughout her life, Lisa’s focus has centered on music and writing.

Lisa’s specialty as a pianist is collaboration. Her areas of expertise include playing for singers, dancers, instrumentalists, and theatrical productions. She has wide-ranging knowledge of repertoire across many genres: art song, opera, chamber music, musical theater, jazz, folk, and classical ballet. She is or has been on staff as a pianist at Boston Ballet School, Boston Conservatory at Berklee College of Music, Emerson College, José Mateo Ballet Theatre, Longy School of Music, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Lisa has performed throughout New England and in Europe with numerous soloists and ensembles. From 2018–2020 she organized and hosted the Solidarity Salon, a performance series featuring diverse artists from multiple genres in support of social justice. More recently, she has begun playing for English Country dances in the New England region.

Lisa’s published poetry collections are: Simple as a Sonnet (Kelsay Books, 2021), Labor (Nixes Mate Books, 2018), and Grief Dreams (White Knuckle Press, 2017). Her poems are featured in Writers Resist: The Anthology; Nasty Women Poets: An Unapologetic Anthology of Subversive Verse; Thirty Days: The Best of the Tupelo Press 30/30 Project’s First Year; and many other literary publications, including: Aethlon, The Avenue, Blood & Bourbon, Cliterature, Cordella Magazine, Friends Journal, The Hampden-Sydney Poetry Review, The Healing Muse, Jam Tarts Magazine, Lily Poetry Review, Mezzo Cammin, Mom Egg Review, The Ocean State Review, The Orchards Poetry Journal, Ovunque Siamo, Nixes Mate Review, Prodigal’s Chair, Rat’s Ass Review (Such an Ugly Time), Rattle (Poets Respond), Salamander, Shooter Literary Magazine, and Sixfold. Her poem “Motherly Advice” was nominated for a 2019 Pushcart Prize, and her poem “In Lieu of Flowers” was a winner in the City of Cambridge 2017 Sidewalk Poetry Contest. Several of her poems have been set to music and performed; some of these compositions can be heard on the albums Currents and Living in Light.

Along with her music and writing skills, Lisa has significant experience in editing, proofreading, layout, and design. From 2005–2022 she was employed full-time as the Production & Editorial Assistant for Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach: The Complete Works, a scholarly publishing project of The Packard Humanities Institute. She continues to provide support on a contract basis for the Institute’s current project, Johann Christian Bach: The Operas and Dramatic Works. Lisa has freelanced as an editor and proofreader for organizations such as Harvard University Press, Indolent Books, and Grub Street. In addition, she has designed and produced poetry broadsides, chapbooks, concert programs, and event flyers.

Lisa earned degrees at Lesley University (MFA in Creative Writing), Longy School of Music (MM in Collaborative Piano), The Boston Conservatory (BM in Piano Performance/Accompanying), and Binghamton University (BA in Literature and Creative Writing). She also took courses at Emerson College in the graduate Writing and Publishing program. To read more about Lisa’s skills and experience, visit her LinkedIn profile.