Simona Smirnova - harpist and singer

Simona Smirnova will provide your event (yoga class, meditation session, wedding ceremony, engagement party, etc) with beautiful soothing music that she will make on her ethnic Lithuanian harp (kanklės). Simona's music can be purely instrumental or with vocals. The music is soft and harmonious, and can vary from ambient music to melodic pop songs.

Simona Smirnova is a Lithuanian born vocalist, composer and kanklės player based in New York City. A global ambassador for the Lithuanian national instrument kanklės, she is currently the only professional kanklės player in the United States! Simona is a fixture in the New York live scene with her band when she’s not touring the world, including Australia, New Zealand and Europe. She deftly implements Lithuanian zither – kanklės and folk melodies into foundations of jazz, pop and electronic music. Always on the road, always charming and smiling, Simona is a true artistic soul that effervescently represents diversity and passion for arts.

Simona Smirnova has released four albums of her original music. Smirnova's debut album "A Hunger Artist" (2017) based on Franz Kafka's short story by the same title. 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 third album "Bird Language" which was released in April of 2022. The record combines jazz and Lithuanian folk music written for jazz quartet, string quartet, vocal ensemble, zither and saxophone.

Smirnova's newest album "Kanklės in New York" (2023) presents Lithuanian traditional zither - kanklės in two formats; an album and sheet music book. The book and album contains 14 original pieces written for kanklės solo, and kanklės and voice.

Simona’s latest project is her own signature instrument line called “Kanklės in New York” that was released in May of 2024. The line introduces 12-string kanklės in five unique designs that were created by Simona herself, and handcrafted in Lithuania by Vytautas Švažas. Simona’s signature kanklės are colorful, modern and easy to play for a musician of any level.

Classically trained on 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).

More info: (link hidden)

FOR SMALLER VENUES (up to 20 people)
Can be purely acoustic

FOR LARGER VENUES (21 people and more)
A speaker with two inputs (1/4'' & XLR)
Microphone boom stand
Chair

I can provide a speaker for an additional charge.