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Episode 15: Addressing Gender Disparity in Opera
Mezzo-Soprano and Composer
New Wave Opera is indeed making waves and taking steps that will change the face of opera. In this episode, Lisa Neher and I continue our conversation about how New Wave Opera is challenging gender stereotypes and working to address the disparity between the number of treble voices and the roles available to them. Along the way, we also discuss comedy, political music, and what it takes to start a new ensemble.
Topics in this episode include:
- Advice on starting a new ensemble
- Being authentic in your music
- The need for a wide variety of music and topics
- Music can be both serious and light-hearted, political or not
- Why comedy is hard
- Why comedy is important
- The disparity between the number of treble voices and the roles available to them
- Character stereotyping of women (and men)
- Why we need new stories
New music powerhouse Dr. Lisa Neher (pronouns: she/her, last name pronounced “NEER”) 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), Lisa writes music inspired by female athleticism, the tender love of friends, the ambiguities of death, and the eerie mystery of deep ocean life. Praised as “a small woman with a very big voice” and “especially alive” (Oregon ArtsWatch), Lisa captivates audiences as a performer with her electrifying dramatic commitment and unforgettable vocal colors. She is President of New Wave Opera, a contemporary opera company based in Portland, OR.
Lisa is an active advocate for new music, frequently premiering new works as well as established masterworks of the last fifty years. She is the creator of the One Voice Project, a one-woman performance combining contemporary poetry and new musical works for unaccompanied voice chosen through a call for scores initiative.
Lisa’s compositions include solo and chamber music for instruments and vocal works in the operatic, song, and choral genres. She is Composer-in-Residence for the Beaverton Community Band. Her particular passion for text and poetry has led to works such as her chamber operas Sense of Self, about a triathlete struggling with a breast cancer diagnosis and White Horizon, about a nineteenth-century Arctic expedition gone wrong. Lisa’s major song cycle, No One Saves the Earth from Us But Us speaks the the urgency of the global climate crisis. Her commissioners include Third Angle New Music, Third Angle New Music, Opera Elect, Opera Theatre Oregon, Coe College Symphony Orchestra, Kirkwood Community College Choirs, the Glass City Singers, tenor Zach Finkelstein, pianist Michael Kirkendoll, and flutists Rose Bishop and Hal Ide. Lisa was selected to be part of the inaugural year of the Gabriela Lena Frank Creative Academy of Music. Lisa is a member of the Iowa Composer’s Forum, Cascadia Composers, the National Association of Teachers of Singing, and ASCAP.
In addition to her creative work, Lisa coaches singers on technique, acting, and interpretation, and composers on writing and marketing their music. Recognized in particular for her deep knowledge of the voice and extended techniques, she frequently teaches workshops on composing for singers. Lisa has served on faculty at Lewis & Clark College, Coe College, Kirkwood Community College, and Grinnell College.
Lisa 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 and a Doctor of Musical Arts in voice performance and pedagogy from the University of Iowa. Her doctoral essay explores the chamber vocal works of composer Gabriela Lena Frank. She is a vocal student of Julia Nielsen, Stephen Swanson, Katherine Eberle, Julia Broxholm, and Susan McBerry, and studied composition under the tutelage of Michael Johansen and Forrest Pierce.
Born just south of Seattle, Lisa is an outdoor enthusiast and triathlete. She spends her free time distance running, watching science fiction movies, and baking delicious treats involving copious amounts of chocolate.
Websites:
Instagram:
- Lisa Neher (@lisanehermezzo) • Instagram photos and videos
- New Wave Opera (@newwaveopera) • Instagram photos and videos
Facebook:
YouTube
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