Today we’d like to introduce you to Monica Livorsi
Hi Monica, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
Music has been an inspirational outlet for me for as long as I can remember. Growing up listening to movie scores while replaying the movie in my head, taking piano lessons, finding favorite songs to play on repeat, creating songs and singing at the top of my lungs (alone in my bedroom of course…) – it wasn’t until middle school that I truly considered exploring music. I didn’t think being a singer or musician was “cool”, until I had a choir teacher and new friend who encouraged me to give it a go.
The rest is history! High school consisted of voice lessons, musical theatre, choirs, and songwriting in secret. In college I studied classical voice, participated in more choirs, as well as other student-led ensembles.
While I am incredibly thankful for the classical training I received growing up and through school, my heart wanted to sing contemporary music and what I was hearing on the radio. And I was still writing music, even though I didn’t believe I would ever be good enough to sing my own songs or be a solo artist.
In 2019 I went to my first open mic and received a great response. I started singing with a few groups and slowly built my confidence – could I actually perform solo under my own name? Would people actually want to listen to just ME?
I’ve worked hard to build connections both with other musicians and venues, as well as create a professional brand and improve my self-confidence. I still have a lot to learn and grow, but just being a part of this journey is beyond fulfilling.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
As a vocal late bloomer, I faced a lot of rejection when I was younger in the music and vocal worlds. From not getting into ensembles, not getting roles in musicals, not being accepted into my dream university to study songwriting/arranging – I thought all of these were signs that I just wasn’t cut out to be a singer or songwriter. Despite this, I never stopped working to improve my voice or musicianship, I wanted to soak up all of the knowledge and musical experiences that I could. My voice finally began to blossom when I was in college, and places I’d previously felt rejected from began accepting me – I got into a professional choir, I got cast in a cabaret show in college, and invited to sing with bands. When I’ve performed my original songs people seem to really enjoy them. It’s been quite the mindset shift, from initially believing I could only live in the background musically, to thinking that maybe I’m good enough to be the front-woman.
Imposter Syndrome still hits me frequently, and I continue working to conquer that negative self doubt, but my confidence has grown immensely and I’m beyond thankful for every musical opportunity.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I am a singer, songwriter, and piano player based near Minneapolis, MN, and have been told my genre is Girl Power and my singer-songwriter vibe emulates Sara Bareilles. (Or maybe that’s just me projecting my dream of being Sara Bareilles…it’s all subjective).
I released my first album in April 2024, All About Jane, a Jane Austen concept album of 12 songs each centering around a different female character from one of Austen’s 6 novels (*see note about girl power genre above). What started out as an off-the-wall idea and memorable identifier for myself at songwriter showcases quickly turned into a full album project with it’s own show, All About Jane: The Eras of Austen, and 2 music videos.
In August 2023 I was connected with The Hive Collaborative, a new venue in St Paul with a vision of producing concept-album work. I didn’t realize there was a market for this type of project. I was honored that they were willing to take a chance on me, and in December 2023 The Hive Collaborative and I shared 4 theatrical performances of the songs on the album to great audiences with an incredible band, stunning aesthetics, and beautiful costumes. I never truly believed I could lead a show like that, and I was so touched by the positive feedback and reviews I received.
In January 2024 I flew out to Los Angeles to work with Spoonful of Blues production where we filmed 2 Jane Austen music videos in 2 days. It was an exhausting but fantastic whirlwind of a weekend. Rose Knight, founder of Spoonful of Blues, was prepared to make the days efficient, spirited, and enjoyable. She edited the videos to perfection, I’m so proud of both works!
After riding this incredible Jane Austen wave (which is still going), I’m back to searching for new inspirations and re-finding my songwriter voice without Jane Austen’s influence. You can subscribe to my email list on my website to stay tuned!
Do you any memories from childhood that you can share with us?
This is a tough question…I’m struggling to remember anything from when I was really young pertaining to music…the first memory that’s coming to mind is when I believe I was in 7th grade. I was in this program called Broadway Kids, once a week we’d get to learn songs relating to the theme for that year and at the end of the year put on a cabaret-esque show. My 7th grade year the theme was Disney and Mamma Mia (I know, I’m not sure how those two go together either but it was A LOT of really fun music). The first time I sang one of the character Sophie’s Mamma Mia solos, the whole room got quiet because apparently I sounded just the like the actress from the Broadway recording. I ended up getting cast in that “role” (basically I just sang all of her songs in a sparkly hat and dress with some stage direction), which felt like a big deal to me. It was one of the last times I was truly free and just having fun in a performance setting until after graduating college.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.monicalivorsi.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/monicalivorsi/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/monicalivorsimusic
- Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/@monicalivorsi
- Other: https://music.apple.com/us/artist/monica-livorsi/1556452397
