 May 5, 2025 – PORTLAND, OR – Portland-based new music powerhouse Dr. Lisa Neher has been named as the 2025 Composer of the Year by the Oregon Music Teachers Association (OMTA) and the 2025 Commissioned Composer by the Iowa Music Teachers Association (IMTA). Each year, Music Teachers Association chapters from around the country recognize outstanding talent in their state with the Composer of the Year Award. As an honoree, Neher receives not only a commission from OMTA and IMTA, but will represent each state in the competition for the national Distinguished Composer of the Year Award, hosted by the Music Teachers National Association. “Lisa’s solid, heartfelt, and timely writing put her on the top of our lists,” shared OMTA Composer-of-the-Year committee members, Paul Safar and Amy Fairchild. “We are proud to have Lisa represent Oregon at the MTNA competition this year.” The commission, Love in a Time of Climate Change, features text by poet Craig Santo Perez, and will be premiered by soprano Lindsey Rae Johnson and pianist Dianne Davies at the OMTA State Conference in the Florence Event Center on Saturday, June 28th. This work marks the third collaboration between Neher and Perez—their last major song cycle (which also included text by Felicia Zamora), No One Saves the Earth from Us But Us, was funded in part by the University of Oklahoma Faculty Senate and the University of Cincinnati Office of the Vice President for Research, to be premiered at a Cincinnati Song Initiative concert this May. In Iowa, pianist and MTNA West Central Division Director-Elect Jason Sifford will present the world premiere of Lisa’s instrumental work, Nautilus, at St. Ambrose University in Davenport, Iowa as part of the 2025 IMTA conference on June 8, 2025. A 7-minute piano solo, the work explores the nautilus’s biology, behavior, and ecosystem. “Working with Lisa was a natural choice for our organization,” reflects Sifford. “She has maintained close ties with our community and her work has a strong, unique voice. We are looking forward to the premiere of Nautilus and are proud to have found a place in her growing catalogue.” Described by Willammette Week as “not only as a supremely talented artist, but an unfailingly compassionate creator whose passion for animals and the natural world propels her work,” these commissions are the latest in a long-standing career of award-winning, socially-conscious music. “A friend told me, ‘facts speak to our minds, but art speaks to our hearts,’” shares Neher. “It’s easy to get overwhelmed by the facts of climate change–to dissociate and to freeze. When we feel something, it can propel action.” NOTE TO JOURNALISTS: Lisa Neher and Craig Santos Perez are available for print, online, and broadcast interviews. If you would like more information on the work, the premiere, or would like to schedule an interview, please contact Lisa directly at lisanehermusic (at ) gmail (dot) com.
ABOUT DR. LISA NEHER (Composer) Dr. Lisa Neher (b. 1985, she/her, “NEER”) is an award-winning composer and new music mezzo on a mission to transform audiences through sound, story, and vulnerability. With a voice praised as “full and rich” and “especially alive” (Oregon ArtsWatch), Neher’s performance credits include Portland Opera, Third Angle New Music, Really Spicy Opera, Portland Columbia Symphony Orchestra, Opera Theatre Oregon, New Music Gathering, Resonance Ensemble, Experiments in Opera, Renegade Opera, and Big Mouth Society. Described as a “supremely talented,” “visionary composer” (Willamette Week), “maestro of beautifully wacky noises” (Oregon ArtsWatch) and author of “liquid, impressionist piano writing and fluent melding” of voices (New York Classical Review), Neher’s compositions are inspired by the climate crisis, the tender love of family and friends, and the eerie mystery of deep ocean life. She is Composer in Residence for the Beaverton Community Band. She has been commissioned and performed by the National Association of Teachers of Singing, Cincinnati Song Initiative, Third Angle New Music, FearNoMusic, Dinosaur Annex, New Opera West, Mirror Visions Ensemble, Alma Ensemble, Opera Elect, and Opera Santa Barbara, among others. Her awards include OMTA Composer of the Year, IMTA Composer of the Year, Flute New Music Consortium Competition, ICDA/ICF Choral Competition, Mirror Visions Ensemble Young Composer Competition and the Celebris Ensemble Choral Competition. As the founder and Executive & Artistic Director of New Wave Opera, she has fostered the successful performances of musical works by over fifty living composers and writers, including eight complete opera productions featuring over three dozen Oregon-based vocalists, instrumentalists, and theatre professionals. Neher holds a Doctor of Musical Arts in Voice Performance & Pedagogy from the University of Iowa, a Masters of Music in Composition from the University of Kansas, and undergraduate degrees in Music and Theatre from Lewis & Clark. She is an alumna of the Gabriela Lena Frank Creative Academy of Music and the Cortona Sessions for New Music. www.lisanehermusic.com ABOUT CRAIG SANTOS PEREZ (Poet) Craig Santos Perez is a native Chamoru from the Pacific Island of Guåhan/Guam. He is the co-founder of Ala Press, co-star of the poetry album Undercurrent (Hawai’i Dub Machine, 2011), and author of two collections of poetry: from unincorporated territory [hacha] (Tinfish Press, 2008) and from unincorporated territory [saina](Omnidawn Publishing, 2010), a finalist for the LA Times 2010 Book Prize for Poetry and the winner of the 2011 PEN Center USA Literary Award for Poetry. He is an Assistant Professor in the English Department at the University of Hawai’i, Manoa, where he teaches Pacific literature and creative writing. https://craigsantosperez.wordpress.com/ ABOUT LINDSEY RAE JOHNSON (Soprano)
Lindsey Rae Johnson (she/her) is a versatile vocalist and performer originally from Minneapolis, now based in Portland, Oregon. She has graced local stages with Portland Opera, New Wave Opera, Renegade Opera, OperaBend, Ping & Woof Opera, Lark Opera, Queer Opera, Opera on Tap, Opera in the Park, Light Opera of Portland, Mocks Crest Productions, Classical Revolution PDX, and the Dickens Carolers. Recent roles include Camila (Pepito), Asha (Meow and Forever), Jane (Serial Killers and the City), Narrator (Thump), Maya (Sense of Self), Victoria Booth/Vitellia (La clemenza di Tito), Freia and Wellgunde (Das Rheingold), Foreign Princess (Rusalka), and Gertrud (Hänsel und Gretel). Beyond Oregon, Lindsey has performed with esteemed organizations such as Fort Worth Opera, the San Francisco Symphony Chorus, Lamplighters Music Theatre, Cedar Rapids Opera Theatre, Bay Area Summer Opera Theater Institute, Waffle Opera, Oberlin in Italy, the Frost School of Music in Salzburg, and Sieur Du Luth Summer Arts Festival. A passionate advocate for innovation in opera, Lindsey is Co-Founder and Resident Soprano of New Wave Opera and serves on the AGMA Board of Governors and NW Area Committee. She holds music degrees from Luther College and the University of North Texas. www.lindseyraejohnson.com “Lisa is unafraid to make bold and daring choices—and it makes her extremely fulfilling to work with as a vocalist. Her expertise shines through in every project, from her prowess in text setting and musical storytelling to her deep sensitivity in crafting interesting lines that fit naturally in the voice. Her latest work may challenge the audience, but her wit, creativity, and sincerity will spark both laughter and deep feeling from listeners.” Lindsey Rae Johnson ABOUT DIANNE DAVIES (Piano) Dianne Davies has been a collaborative pianist since she was in the fifth grade, playing for congregational singing at church, accompanying her classmates in competitions to playing for the fifth grade choir and school musical at Hartley Elementary in the Reynolds District. Ever since, collaborating has been top on her priority list for performance. Beyond her Bachelor of Arts degree in Piano Performance and completing the Oregon music education certification for K-12 instruction at Lewis & Clark College, Dianne has been provided a plethora of performance opportunities. Dianne is also a composer and since 2017 her compositions for students have been performed in the Cascadia Composer’s sponsored concert In Good Hands, a concert that links music students with local living composers. Many OMTA teachers have worked with her as a composer for their students. In addition to her passion for performing, she operates a full piano studio spanning ages K-12 to recreational adults. Dianne is Nationally Certified through MTNA and is starting her journey as a Syllabus adjudicator. At the state level of OMTA Dianne chairs the State Composition Festival and at the National level she chairs the State Composition Competition. Dianne is committed to bringing up the next generation of composers. www.musiqPOWER.com “Lisa’s music engages audiences in creative and meaningful ways. She is world class—definitely a force to be reckoned with.” –Dianne Davies I’m all about helping composers "up" their composing for singers game—everything from text setting to poetry permissions to range, tessitura, and voice types & more!
It’s a particularly important subject during this current renaissance of new opera. So many composers are developing new operatic works. But there’s someone else to keep in mind as you write your vocal works. Someone who often gets overlooked, ESPECIALLY in opera writing. Your pianist. If you’re writing an opera, you’ve probably heard about taking your orchestral or chamber score and creating a piano reduction—a rehearsal score that singers will use in lessons, coachings, musical, and staging rehearsals. These rehearsals are ALL done with only a rehearsal pianist—not the full ensemble—for budget reasons. The instrumental ensemble only joins for the very last few rehearsals. My #1 tip for you: Make sure that piano part is beautiful, idiomatic, and artistic. Make sure that it stands ON ITS OWN. Why?
The sad fact is that many of the piano reductions I see are simply NOT playable. They suspiciously like what notation software spits out when you use their automatic “arrange” functions. This forces your pianist to rework your reduction in real time during practice and rehearsal, crossing out notes that don’t fit in their hands, leaps that are impractical, and sometimes even cutting out that chord or motive that is supposed to be an important cue for the singers—YIKES! Don’t let that be you. Take that extra time (and negotiate for extra money in your commissioning fee!) to make sure that the piano reduction isn’t just an automated “arrangement” of what the ensemble plays, but a thoughtfully composed piano version. A version that provides all the necessary elements for the director, designer, and singers to rehearse and stage your show AND that makes expressive, beautiful, crafted music on its own. It’s more work. But it’s worth it. How much do you charge for your music?
That question can make composers sweat bullets! Maybe this is you...
When that moment happens, you need to be ready. Because pretty soon, the conversation is going to move from what kind of piece they want and what they love about your music to the scariest of questions: "How much do you charge?" The most important step you need to take? Figure out your rates now. Here are a few resources you can consult: New Music Box Commissioning Fees Calculator Canadian League of Composers Commissioning Rates New Music USA's Commissioning Music: A Basic Guide Meet the Composer's Guide to Commissioning Music Dominick DiOrio's Guide to Commissioning Music (especially helpful for choral works) American Composers Forum Commissioning By Individuals Guide Have a look through these tools and documents. As you read, notice: how do these rates make you feel? Excited? Nervous? Affirmed? Terrified? Do you feel ready to ask a commissioner to pay you these rates? Why nor why not? Drop me a line and let me know. Listen to any art song, opera aria, choral work, or your favorite pop song, and you'll find something in common: dramatic high notes. Those awesome moments in a piece of music that create drama and intensity by singing in the upper register. The trouble is, sometimes, they're written in a way that causes this effort to create a real MOMENT fall FLAT. Let me explain. To sing a high note, a singer's mouth needs to be open tall in order to get the best sound and have the best chance of singing it with ease. And because singers perform text, it makes a HUGE difference what word you've chosen to set for that dramatic moment. That's because words are combinations of vowels and consonants, and because singers sustain vowels for most of the length of any given pitch. 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘷𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘦𝘲𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘴𝘶𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘪𝘨𝘩 𝘱𝘪𝘵𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘴. Here's why: vowels can be open, medium, or closed. Try this: Speak the words on the vowel chart slowly while watching your mouth in a mirror. Pay attention to what you see and feel.  Notice that closed vowels involve closure of the mouth space either through lip rounding (boot, book) or through activation of the tongue into a little arch (see, sit). For the medium vowels, the lips are a little less rounded (potato) and the tongue is less arched (potato, met) or fairly neutral (about). And for the open vowels, lip rounding is even less (or), and the tongue is pretty much at rest in the bottom of the jaw (alligator, father, other). See why they’re called open vowels? There’s literally less going on in the mouth and around the lips! Now that you’ve tried this out, let me give you a handy principle to keep in mind: A property of singing is that high notes require a taller mouth than low ones. As singers ascend in range, we drop our jaws and lift the yawn space (soft palate) behind our upper molars to create more vertical space. And that’s why the open vowels can be sung on high notes more easily & beautifully while also being better understood by the audience! Let's take this a littler further. Diphthongs are single syllables that combine two vowel sounds (di = two, phthong = sound). They are super common in English. Try this: Slowly speak the diphthongs and identify which components are open, medium, and closed. Which diphthongs will be more successful on a high note? Let me know in the comments! My friend Danielle Kuntz, harpist asked a great question on Twitter today: How do we support and encourage living composers? I love this question, and it's one I get a lot. Performers, ensemble directors, music teachers, and music fans know that the odds have been stacked against living composers for a while. They want to take meaningful action, and they also know they can't do it all at once or all on their own. Many performers I talk to get stuck because they want to offer composers big commissions but don't have a dedicated funding source for that. It doesn't have to be hard to support living composers. You can get started right now. It doesn't have to cost a thing. Here's a list of 21 ways you can support living composers:
What did I miss? Get in touch and let me know YOUR favorite ways are to support living composers. |
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