|
Mezzo-soprano Lisa Neher brings dramatic specificity and committed physicality to both operatic and song repertoire. Trained as a stage actress, Lisa is equally comfortable in the worlds of opera and spoken theatre. A passionate advocate for contemporary music, Lisa frequently premieres new works as well as established masterworks of the last fifty years. She is the creator of the One Voice Project, a call for scores initiative that promotes the creation of new works for unaccompanied voice. Winners of the call for scores are being premiered in the 2015-2016 concert season and will be taken on a one-woman musical-theatrical concert tour later in 2016.
Recent engagements include Alto Soloist in Vivaldi's Gloria with the Grinnell Oratorio Singers and the Central Iowa Symphony, the first staged performance of Sun Songs: Three Micro-Operas by Augusta Read Thomas with the Center for New Music, and Jennifer in the world premiere of the chamber opera One Thousand White Paper Cranes for Japan by Rita Ueda with the Singaporean contemporary music ensemble Chamber Sounds.
Lisa was a 2014 Young Artist with Cedar Rapids Opera Theatre, appearing in their productions of Carmen and The Mikado. Other roles include Orlofsky in Die Fledermaus, Annio in La clemenza di Tito, and Mrs. Malaprop in Kirke Mechem's The Rivals with Martha-Ellen Tye Opera Theatre, the Student in the premiere of the chamber opera The Nightingale and the Rose by Li Kai Han Jeremiah with Helianthus Ensemble, and Cherubino in Le nozze di Figaro with the Midwest Institute of Opera and the American Singers' Opera Project.
A composer of unabashedly heartfelt, lyrical music, Lisa’s works include solo and chamber music for instrumentalists as well as vocal works in the operatic, song, and choral genres, which represent her deepest passion. She recently completed a SATB choral work, "Shadow Song," to be premiered by the Whateverandeveramen choral project.
Lisa is a Teaching Artist at Coe College in Cedar Rapids and maintains a vigorous private studio in the Iowa City/Cedar Rapids area. She graduated summa cum laude from Lewis & Clark College with degrees in vocal performance, music composition, and theatre, and holds a master's degree in music composition from the University of Kansas. Lisa is a doctoral candidate in voice performance and pedagogy at the University of Iowa, where her research includes analysis of the chamber vocal works of composer Gabriela Lena Frank. She is a vocal student of Steven Swanson, Katherine Eberle, Julia Broxholm, and Susan McBerry and studied composition under the tutelage of Michael Johansen and Forrest Pierce.
Lisa hails from Washington State, where she returns every summer to hike in the meadows on Mount Rainier
Recent engagements include Alto Soloist in Vivaldi's Gloria with the Grinnell Oratorio Singers and the Central Iowa Symphony, the first staged performance of Sun Songs: Three Micro-Operas by Augusta Read Thomas with the Center for New Music, and Jennifer in the world premiere of the chamber opera One Thousand White Paper Cranes for Japan by Rita Ueda with the Singaporean contemporary music ensemble Chamber Sounds.
Lisa was a 2014 Young Artist with Cedar Rapids Opera Theatre, appearing in their productions of Carmen and The Mikado. Other roles include Orlofsky in Die Fledermaus, Annio in La clemenza di Tito, and Mrs. Malaprop in Kirke Mechem's The Rivals with Martha-Ellen Tye Opera Theatre, the Student in the premiere of the chamber opera The Nightingale and the Rose by Li Kai Han Jeremiah with Helianthus Ensemble, and Cherubino in Le nozze di Figaro with the Midwest Institute of Opera and the American Singers' Opera Project.
A composer of unabashedly heartfelt, lyrical music, Lisa’s works include solo and chamber music for instrumentalists as well as vocal works in the operatic, song, and choral genres, which represent her deepest passion. She recently completed a SATB choral work, "Shadow Song," to be premiered by the Whateverandeveramen choral project.
Lisa is a Teaching Artist at Coe College in Cedar Rapids and maintains a vigorous private studio in the Iowa City/Cedar Rapids area. She graduated summa cum laude from Lewis & Clark College with degrees in vocal performance, music composition, and theatre, and holds a master's degree in music composition from the University of Kansas. Lisa is a doctoral candidate in voice performance and pedagogy at the University of Iowa, where her research includes analysis of the chamber vocal works of composer Gabriela Lena Frank. She is a vocal student of Steven Swanson, Katherine Eberle, Julia Broxholm, and Susan McBerry and studied composition under the tutelage of Michael Johansen and Forrest Pierce.
Lisa hails from Washington State, where she returns every summer to hike in the meadows on Mount Rainier