She Became Fire: songs of social justice, feminism, loss, healing & magic, by living composers & poets
By donation, min. $1
- Lisa Neher, mezzo-soprano
- Emily Duncan, flute
- Ignacio Ojeda, piano
Gabriela Lena Frank — Cuatro Canciones Andinas
Lisa Neher — She Conjures
Gilbert Galindo — ¡Víctor, Catarina!
Drew Swatosh — "Riots"
Carolyn Quick — Volume (world premiere)
Danielle Jagelski — Gichi-mookomaan ("United States")
Join Dr. Lisa Neher, Portland's New Music Mezzo, in concert with with pianist Ignacio Ojeda and flutist Emily Duncan for a program of contemporary songs about social justice, feminism, loss, and love.
What is the American dream, and who is it for? Danielle Jagelski's Gichi-mookomaan ("United States") delves into these questions by setting interviews with citizens of the tribal nations to music. Drew Swatosh's unaccompanied song "Riots" (poetry of Carolyn Quick) faces violent police responses to protest, while in Lisa Neher and Bea Goodwin's Scottish-folksong-infused she conjures, a young woman seeks justice after her mother is burned at the stake but questions whether justice or revenge was truly done.
Gabriela Lena Frank's Cuatro Canciones Andinas ("Four Andean Songs") explore themes of departure, loss, and magic, setting traditional Peruvian poetry translated into Spanish by José María Arguedas. A woman explores the magic of self-healing and growth after trauma in Melissa Dunphy and Nikita Gill's song cycle Four Poems of Nikita Gill. Volume (a world premiere on this program), words and music by Carolyn Quick evokes the freedom and joy of hair and through that, the self. And Gilbert Galindo's ¡Víctor, Catarina!, which sets the words of Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz, a 17th-century Mexican nun, boldly celebrates feminism and challenges the patriarchy of Church and society.
About Lisa Neher, mezzo-soprano
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 and President of New Wave Opera.
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 the Flute New Music Consortium Competition, ICDA/ICF Choral Competition, Mirror Visions Ensemble Young Composer Competition and the Celebris Ensemble Choral Competition.
http://www.lisanehermusic.com/