About

At the heart of it, Markeisha Ensley is a NYC based storyteller with a love for creating theatre that tells unique stories about the human experience, and she has a passion to amplify lesser-heard voices via arts and community impact. As a composer and lyricist, she’s currently a member of the BMI Lehman Engel Musical Theatre Workshop and is writing book, music and lyrics for the original musical Beneath the Surface, which tells the story of Seneca Village, the African American community that existed from 1825 to 1857, and was razed to build Central Park. A scene and song from her musical were performed as a part of Central Park Conservancy’s Juneteenth 2026 celebration. 

Growing up in Aurora, Colorado, Markeisha got her start making up songs and writing plays for her stuffed animals to perform, particularly her beloved yellow big bear, Freddie. As an adult, she’s a graduate of the Circle in the Square Theatre School – Musical Theatre program and received her BM from New York University. A singer-songwriter, she has released two albums of original music and received the Abe Olman Scholarship Award for Excellence in Songwriting from the Songwriters Hall of Fame/Songwriters Guild of America. In 2014, she completed a four-month, solo residency performing in Fukuoka, Japan and has also performed in the Philippines (Cuneta Astrodome), Fuji, Japan, Paris, London, Denver (Dazzle Jazz) and the NYC and Hudson Valley areas.

Markeisha’s heart also belongs to community building through arts education, especially in underserved communities. Believing in the importance of giving back, she is an arts facilitator with over 15 years’ experience working with non-profit organizations like Music For All Seasons (MFAS), LifeBeat/Hearts and Voices, and Lollipop Theater Network to name a few, in addition to her teaching artist work in NYC public schools. One of the most fulfilling aspects of her work has been working with MFAS, where she facilitates songwriting workshops with veterans and teens in detention centers and gets to witness the power of music, collaboration and shared experience connecting the most unlikely of people.

Markeisha is a proud member of the Dramatists Guild, Recording Academy, Maestra and Actor’s Equity.