Southern Resident Commissioning consortium
for clarinet & bassoon

Composer: Lisa Neher
Lead Commissioners: Silent Voices Project

Join the Consortium

Meg Quigley Symposium Special!


Join by 11:59 pm Pacific on Mon Jan 13 to be entered in a drawing for bonus prizes! 

• Signed print copy of one of Lisa's works for woodwinds AND cuddly crochet orca whale made by Lisa
• 60-minute zoom coaching session with Lisa on topic of your choice (composition, music business, etc)
• 60-minute zoom rehearsal with Lisa on Southern Resident

About the piece

Southern Resident is a 10-minute duet for clarinet and bassoon inspired by the Southern Resident orca whales of Puget Sound in Washington State and the Salish Sea of British Columbia, near where I grew up. While orca whales live throughout the world's oceans, feeding on marine mammals and fish, the Southern Resident sub group spends much of their time in Puget Sound and the Salish Sea and eats almost exclusively chinook salmon.

Their proximity to large human population centers like Seattle put the Southern Residents at particular risk, and many are in poor health and struggling to raise calves. In 2005, they were listed as Endangered under the Endangered Species Act. Overfishing of salmon and erosion of salmon spawning streams due to human development threaten their only food source. Noise from boat traffic disrupts their echolocation and makes it harder to find food, leading them to waste precious calories on longer hunts. And toxins from oils spills, runoff, and pollutants build up in their bodies over their long lifespans (females can live up to age 100). 

Mvt 1: Echoes: Southern Resident opens with a musical depiction of an orca whale hunt. Rapid repeating notes represent a series of echolocation clicks orcas send out to locate prey, called click trains. These clicks bounce back and forth between the instruments in a conversational manner, representing the signals bouncing off prey and returning to the whales. Lush, sweeping arpeggios bring the diving whales to life as they hunt for chinook salmon.

Mvt 2: Noise Pollution: The hunt is disrupted by boat noise, disorienting the whales. A tug of war of motives begins between the echolocation and diving motives and loud, dissonant interjections representing the busy ports and heavily trafficked waterways of Puget Sound. As the whales burn precious calories on a longer and longer hunt, the music reaches a desperate climax.
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Mvt 3: Matriarch: The final movement begins slow and stately as the pod turns to the wisdom of the oldest females in the group. The music slowly builds in tempo and hopefulness as the whales are led to reliable hunting grounds known by the matriarchs. 

Consortium Details

Composer: Lisa Neher
Lead Commissioners: Silent Voices Project
Deadline to Join: June 30, 2025, 11:59 pm Pacific Time
PDF Score Delivery: July 1, 2025
Difficulty Level: Intermediate, using primarily standard techniques, designed for busy professionals to put together in a reasonable amount of rehearsal time for festivals, tours, etc. 
Length: Approx. 10 minutes, in 3 movements.
Rates per duo: $200 Professionals, $100 students
​Note: Only 1 member of your duo (ie, the clarinetist, or bassoonist) needs to join the consortium. Both are welcome to join, but it is not required. 

Member benefits

PDF of score and parts (hard copies available for an additional printing & mailing fee), delivered by July 1, 2025
1 year exclusivity window to premiere the piece: July 1, 2025-June 30, 2026
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

Student tier: Lisa Neher Young Artist Competition

​Submit a video recording of your performance by January 1, 2026
Winning duo will be announced by February 1, 2026. Honorable Mentions will be awarded.
Adjudicators: Lisa Neher, Silent Voices Project
Both performers in your video must be registered students to participate. Duos are eligible if at least 1 performer is a member of the consortium. Both performers are welcome to join the consortium, but it is not required.

Each member of the winning duo will receive:
$50 prize
Their choice of a signed print copy of one of Lisa's works for woodwinds
Video featured on Lisa's website

About the composer

​Dr. Lisa Neher (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 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. She is a member of Portland Opera Chorus.
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's Composer of the Year (2024), the Flute New Music Consortium Competition, ICDA/ICF Choral Competition, Mirror Visions Ensemble Young Composer Competition and the Celebris Ensemble Choral Competition. www.lisanehermusic.com. ​

About the Lead COmmissioners: Silent Voices Project

Silent Voices Project is a large-scale project initially funded through a Bemidji State University New Faculty Scholarship and Innovation Fund grant. Members Sarah Elizabeth Lee (bassoon), Miriam Brack Webber (bassoon), and Hilary Lowery (clarinet), seek to raise awareness of womxn composers through commissions, performances, education and other research venues.

1. Project Collaboration
   We will build a collaborative group of performers interested in diversifying the current representation of composers in the classical music repertoire. 
   
   
2. Commission
   We will continually seek new funding for emerging women-identifying and non-binary composers.
   
   
3. Performance
   We will perform select works each year, and we will seek out to perform together as much as possible.
   
   
4. Scholarship
   We will seek out performance and academic scholarship in conferences, journals and other professional and academic settings, so we create awareness for others interested in the project and in performing the music.

Works for reeds by Lisa Neher

Members

Silent Voices Project
​AND YOU!