Award-winning composer creating elemental, story-driven music.
Multi-talented mezzo-soprano, composer, and actor Lisa Neher “create[s] soundscapes of shimmering color, offering moments of unexpected intimacy and grace" (The Flute View). A “maestro of beautifully wacky noises” (Oregon ArtsWatch), her works demonstrate consummate skill in instrumental and vocal writing, producing strikingly imaginative and finely honed music that enthralls listeners and carries them on a vivid journey. Neher’s expansive catalog includes “wildly inventive” (Willamette Week) song cycles, operas, chorale works, and chamber music which showcase her “liquid, impressionistic…writing and fluent melding” of voices (New York Classical Review). Neher is an award-winning composer whose music has earned recognition from the Oregon Music Teachers Association (Composer of the Year 2025), the Flute New Music Consortium, ICDA/ICF, Mirror Visions Ensemble, and the Celebris Ensemble. Commissioning ensembles and organizations include the National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS), American Harp Society, Cincinnati Song Initiative, and Opera Santa Barbara. Her interdisciplinary training informs her compositional craft, making her an exceptional musical storyteller with an uncommon command of dramatic pacing, orchestration, and musical colors. A visionary creator and leader, Neher is the Founder and President of New Wave Opera, a company that shares fresh, relatable stories by living composers through the medium of opera. Through all facets of her work, Neher champions contemporary storytelling that embraces both the wildness of the natural world and the intimate complexities of human experience.
–Biography by Aligned Artistry and Lisa Neher
–Biography by Aligned Artistry and Lisa Neher
Awards & RecognitionComposer of the Year: Oregon Music Teachers Association, 2025
Commissioned work: Love in a Time of Climate Change, song cycle for voice & piano Commissioned Composer: Iowa Music Teachers Association, 2025 Commissioned work: Nautilus, for solo piano Winner: Cult of Orpheus Call for Scores, for she conjures, 2024 Winner: LunART Call for Scores, for she conjures, 2024 Finalist: National Association of Teachers of Singing Art Song Composition Competition, for she conjures, 2023 Runner Up: Celebris Ensemble Choral Competition, for first winter rain, 2023 Winner: Flute New Music Consortium Competition, for Reach Out, 2022 Winner: Mirror Visions Ensemble Young Composer Competition, 2021 Winner: Iowa Choral Directors Association/ Iowa Composers Forum Choral Composition Competition, for Three Basho Haiku, 2021 |
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Commissioning Information
Lisa is available for commissions from ensembles, organizations and individuals. She regularly works with those new to commissioning, and is happy to guide you through the process and offer you a menu of options and ideas. Pricing is determined by a variety of factors, including: length, performing forces, timeline, and difficulty level. Reaching out early (9-12 months in advance of anticipated performance) is highly recommended, to allow time to create a work that is tailored to your needs.
Contact Lisa to discuss your project idea.