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SUNFLOWER SEA STAR
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THE CONSORTIUM HAS CLOSED.
tHANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO JOINED!
Sunflower Sea Star will be available for purchase on January 16, 2024. Contact Lisa to be reminded when the score goes on sale!
Congratulations to the winners of the Lisa Neher Young Artist Competition!
Watch Ed Senn's award winning performance of Sunflower Sea Star!
Read more about Ed on their website.
Read more about Ed on their website.
First Place: Ed Senn
Runner Up: Haley Houk
Read more about Haley on her website
Honorable Mentions:
Mason Cox (website) and Erik Traheim
Runner Up: Haley Houk
Read more about Haley on her website
Honorable Mentions:
Mason Cox (website) and Erik Traheim
Support Conservation Efforts
Consortium Members
Sunflower Sea Star by Lisa Neher
Commissioned by a consortium of bassoonists let by
Martin Van Klompenberg, Lead Commissioner
Kassandra Ormsby, Student Coordinator
PROFESSIONAL TIER:
Margaret Fay (Penn State University)
Vinny LaMonica (Quiet Corner Music Studio)
Sarah Lee (Erie Philharmonic)
Albie Micklich (Arizona State University)
Angela Moretti (Texas Lutheran University)
Douglas G. Moran
Leigh Muñoz (Conservatory at University of Missouri-Kansas City)
Allison Nicotera (University of Kentucky)
Robyn Watson (Trio de Bois)
Miriam Webber (Bemidji State University, Silent Voices Project)
STUDENT TIER:
Mason Cox (Arizona State University)
Michelle Fletcher (Arizona State University
Haley Houk (University of Houston)
Hal Ide
Erik Paul (New England Conservatory)
Cassandra Roaché (University of Georgia)
Edward Senn (University of Arizona)
James Scott (Colorado State University)
Erik Traheim (University of North Carolina, Greensboro)
Commissioned by a consortium of bassoonists let by
Martin Van Klompenberg, Lead Commissioner
Kassandra Ormsby, Student Coordinator
PROFESSIONAL TIER:
Margaret Fay (Penn State University)
Vinny LaMonica (Quiet Corner Music Studio)
Sarah Lee (Erie Philharmonic)
Albie Micklich (Arizona State University)
Angela Moretti (Texas Lutheran University)
Douglas G. Moran
Leigh Muñoz (Conservatory at University of Missouri-Kansas City)
Allison Nicotera (University of Kentucky)
Robyn Watson (Trio de Bois)
Miriam Webber (Bemidji State University, Silent Voices Project)
STUDENT TIER:
Mason Cox (Arizona State University)
Michelle Fletcher (Arizona State University
Haley Houk (University of Houston)
Hal Ide
Erik Paul (New England Conservatory)
Cassandra Roaché (University of Georgia)
Edward Senn (University of Arizona)
James Scott (Colorado State University)
Erik Traheim (University of North Carolina, Greensboro)
Consortium Details
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Details:
Length: approximately 10 minutes Performing forces: bassoon and piano Difficulty level: collegiate performers and beyond (for reference: Immortal Jellyfish) Score delivery date: January 15, 2023 Premiere window: January 15, 2023-January 15, 2024 Deadline to join: January 15, 2023, 11:59 pm PT Pricing Tiers: $200 Professional $100 Student |
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Member Benefits:
PDF of scores and parts (hard copies available for an additional printing & mailing fee), delivered by January 15, 2023
1 year exclusivity window to premiere January 15, 2023-January 15, 2024
Handwritten card from the composer
Your name and institution (if applicable) listed in score and program notes
Right to list yourself as consortium member giving premiere of the work in programs and announcements
Short video introduction to the piece recorded by the composer
For Student Tier: Lisa Neher Young Artist Competition
Submit a video recording of your performance by September 1, 2023
Winner will receive $100 prize, a signed print copy of Immortal Jellyfish, Lisa's bassoon duet, and their video will be featured on Lisa's website.
Honorable Mentions will be awarded
Adjudicators: Lisa Neher, Martin Van Klompenberg, and Kassandra Ormsby
Must be a registered student to participate
About the Music:
This sonata for bassoon and piano takes inspiration from the life cycle and biology of the Sunflower Sea Star. These sea stars are a beautiful and impressive species. The second largest sea star in the world, they grow to three feet across, with 16-24 legs and range in color from yellow to orange to purple. They are a keystone species, vital in particular for keeping sea urchin populations in check and thereby preserving kelp forest habitat.
I grew up in Washington State, where I regularly spotted Sunflower Sea Stars in the waters of Puget Sound. In the last decade, their population rapidly declined due to climate change and the related sea star wasting disease. The International Union for Conservation of Nature listed them as critically endangered in December 2020, and the University of Washington began an experimental captive breeding initiative in an attempt to bolster their numbers. To support their work, visit Stars for the Sea.
This 10-minute sonata will depict elements of the sea star’s behavior and ecosystem such as:
Through this music, we will raise awareness of and appreciation for this important and irreplaceable animal, and support efforts to rebuild their population.
Additional opportunities for you or your music program to work with Lisa:
Lisa is happy to build a virtual or in-person residency in coordination with the premiere of the work. Options include: pre-concert talk, rehearsal with you, music business roundtable discussion, networking, pitching projects, and collaboration workshop, composition masterclass, group or private composition lessons, and more. In-person appearances subject to the state of the pandemic. Contact Lisa to learn more about options and honorarium pricing.
Questions? Contact us!
PDF of scores and parts (hard copies available for an additional printing & mailing fee), delivered by January 15, 2023
1 year exclusivity window to premiere January 15, 2023-January 15, 2024
Handwritten card from the composer
Your name and institution (if applicable) listed in score and program notes
Right to list yourself as consortium member giving premiere of the work in programs and announcements
Short video introduction to the piece recorded by the composer
For Student Tier: Lisa Neher Young Artist Competition
Submit a video recording of your performance by September 1, 2023
Winner will receive $100 prize, a signed print copy of Immortal Jellyfish, Lisa's bassoon duet, and their video will be featured on Lisa's website.
Honorable Mentions will be awarded
Adjudicators: Lisa Neher, Martin Van Klompenberg, and Kassandra Ormsby
Must be a registered student to participate
About the Music:
This sonata for bassoon and piano takes inspiration from the life cycle and biology of the Sunflower Sea Star. These sea stars are a beautiful and impressive species. The second largest sea star in the world, they grow to three feet across, with 16-24 legs and range in color from yellow to orange to purple. They are a keystone species, vital in particular for keeping sea urchin populations in check and thereby preserving kelp forest habitat.
I grew up in Washington State, where I regularly spotted Sunflower Sea Stars in the waters of Puget Sound. In the last decade, their population rapidly declined due to climate change and the related sea star wasting disease. The International Union for Conservation of Nature listed them as critically endangered in December 2020, and the University of Washington began an experimental captive breeding initiative in an attempt to bolster their numbers. To support their work, visit Stars for the Sea.
This 10-minute sonata will depict elements of the sea star’s behavior and ecosystem such as:
- Movement on 15,000 tiny tube feet at speeds up to 40 inches/minute (incredibly fast for a sea star!)
- Hunting for sea urchins, sea cucumbers, and gastropods by snatching them with its leading arms, protruding its stomach, and enveloping prey, expelling hard shells later
- Breaking off limbs when under attack by the king crab and other predators
- Its home in the intertidal zone of the Pacific Coast, where tidepools form as waters ebb and flow
Through this music, we will raise awareness of and appreciation for this important and irreplaceable animal, and support efforts to rebuild their population.
Additional opportunities for you or your music program to work with Lisa:
Lisa is happy to build a virtual or in-person residency in coordination with the premiere of the work. Options include: pre-concert talk, rehearsal with you, music business roundtable discussion, networking, pitching projects, and collaboration workshop, composition masterclass, group or private composition lessons, and more. In-person appearances subject to the state of the pandemic. Contact Lisa to learn more about options and honorarium pricing.
Questions? Contact us!
Preview the Score |
Listen to MIDI Realizations |
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Learn about the Consortium
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PROGRAM NOTE
I grew up in Washington State, where I regularly spotted Sunflower Sea Stars in Puget Sound at low tide or when looking down at the shallows from my dad’s boat. The second largest sea star in the world, they grow to three feet across, range in color from yellow to orange to purple, and sport 16-24 legs radiating from their body, like the petals of the flower that inspires their name. They are a beautiful and impressive species, and play a vital role in particular for keeping sea urchin populations in check and thereby preserving kelp forest habitat. Once a common sight from California to Alaska, in the last 10 years, they have completely disappeared in California and Oregon and sightings are rare in Washington. Scientists do not know the exact cause but their decline is linked to climate change and sea star wasting disease. The International Union for Conservation of Nature listed them as critically endangered in December 2020, and the University of Washington began an experimental captive breeding initiative in an attempt to bolster their numbers. To support their work, visit Stars for the Sea.
The first movement of Sunflower Sea Star, Intertidal, takes listeners on a journey to the intertidal zone, the area of beach that is above water at low tide and underwater at high tide, where the sea stars make their home. The piano depicts rolling waves and sparkling surf, while the bassoon’s lyrical melodies celebrate the beauty of the sea star and its habitat. Movement 2, Predator, follows the hungry sea star on the hunt, moving rapidly on 15,000 tiny tube feet, snatching prey with its leading arms, prying it apart, and protruding its stomach to envelop and digest prey before expelling hard shells. The final movement, Keystone, explores the decline of the species to further remote areas and the loneliness we all feel without them in our lives.
--Lisa Neher
The first movement of Sunflower Sea Star, Intertidal, takes listeners on a journey to the intertidal zone, the area of beach that is above water at low tide and underwater at high tide, where the sea stars make their home. The piano depicts rolling waves and sparkling surf, while the bassoon’s lyrical melodies celebrate the beauty of the sea star and its habitat. Movement 2, Predator, follows the hungry sea star on the hunt, moving rapidly on 15,000 tiny tube feet, snatching prey with its leading arms, prying it apart, and protruding its stomach to envelop and digest prey before expelling hard shells. The final movement, Keystone, explores the decline of the species to further remote areas and the loneliness we all feel without them in our lives.
--Lisa Neher
SUnflower Sea Stars in the news
Scientists create recovery roadmap for Sunflower Sea Star: OPB's Think Out Loud (Dec 5, 2022)
West Coast scientists call for action to help sunflower sea stars: OPB/AP (Dec 3, 2022)
Sunflower sea stars being considered for Endangered Species Act protections: OPB (Jan 1, 2022)
Critically endangered sea star not recovering in the wild: Nature Conservancy (Aug 24, 2021)
Sunflower sea stars declared critically endangered on West Coast: OPB (Dec 11, 2020)
Sea star wasting syndrome arrives in Oregon: OPB (May 5, 2014)
West Coast scientists call for action to help sunflower sea stars: OPB/AP (Dec 3, 2022)
Sunflower sea stars being considered for Endangered Species Act protections: OPB (Jan 1, 2022)
Critically endangered sea star not recovering in the wild: Nature Conservancy (Aug 24, 2021)
Sunflower sea stars declared critically endangered on West Coast: OPB (Dec 11, 2020)
Sea star wasting syndrome arrives in Oregon: OPB (May 5, 2014)
[Lisa's] attention to detail, openness to feedback, and joyful musicality made our music experience one that every ensemble should be fortunate enough to have.
--Misty Theisen, Conductor, Resonance Saxophone Orchestra
Examples of Lisa's Music for Woodwinds
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Weeks after the premiere of Upon a Broken World, audience members continued to remind me how moved they had been by Lisa’s compositions.
—Marian Wilson Kimber, Red Vespa
About the composer
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New music powerhouse Dr. Lisa Neher is an award-winning composer, mezzo-soprano, and actress on a mission to transform audiences through sound, story, and vulnerability. Described as a “maestro of beautifully wacky noises” (Oregon ArtsWatch) and a composer of “varied and imitable” vocal lines (Contemporary Classical), Neher writes music inspired by female athleticism, the tender love of friends, the ambiguities of death, and the eerie mystery of deep ocean life. Her EP Of Wind and Waves explores the currents of air, water, and emotions that define our natural and psychological world. Neher’s commissioners include Third Angle New Music, Opera Elect, Opera Theatre Oregon, Dinosaur Annex, flutists Rose Bishop and Hal Ide, pianist Michael Kirkendoll, and bassoonists Miriam Webber and Sarah Elizabeth Lee. She is the winner of the Iowa Choral Director’s Association / Iowa Composers Forum Choral Competition and the Mirror Visions Ensemble Young Composer Competition, and was selected as a National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS) Composer Mentee, working with Tom Cipullo.
Praised as “a small woman with a very big voice” and “especially alive” (Oregon ArtsWatch), Neher captivates audiences as a performer with her electrifying dramatic commitment and unforgettable vocal colors. Her performance credits include Third Angle New Music, the Resonance Ensemble, New Music Gathering, Queer Opera, the International Saxophone Symposium, and Opera Theatre Oregon. She created the roles of Jennifer in Chamber Sounds of Singapore’s world premiere of One Thousand Paper Cranes for Japan by Rita Ueda, Julian of Norwich in Brook Joyce’s monodrama the Showing of Love, and the protagonist in Space Station 189, a sci-fi opera for Instagram by JL Marlor and Aiden Feltkamp. Lisa is the curator of the One Voice Project, which champions unaccompanied solo vocal performance. Neher holds degrees from the University of Iowa (DMA), University of Kansas (MM), and Lewis & Clark College (BA). She is an alumnus of the Gabriela Lena Frank Creative Academy of Music and the Cortona Sessions for New Music. In addition to her creative work, Neher is a creative and business coach for singers and composers. She spends her free time training for triathlons, watching science fiction movies, and baking delicious treats involving copious amounts of chocolate. For more information, visit her website, www.lisanehermusic.com. |
Photo credits:
Ed Bierman from CA, usa, CC BY 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
Ed Bowlby, NOAA/Olympic Coast NMS; NOAA/OAR/Office of Ocean Exploration. - NOAA Photo Library: expl1080, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=17984954
Ed Bierman from CA, usa, CC BY 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
Ed Bowlby, NOAA/Olympic Coast NMS; NOAA/OAR/Office of Ocean Exploration. - NOAA Photo Library: expl1080, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=17984954