Dark Side of the Womb | Graduating Student Recital | Brittany Walker, mezzo-soprano

Brittany Walker is a Mezzo-Soprano and a Speech-Language Pathologist who is currently based in the Boston area. Her work as a Speech-Language Pathologist has given her an intimate knowledge of the voice and provided a source of inspiration for her to establish her own voice while working on providing a voice for her students She has sung internationally in Italy, France and Germany performing roles from Mozart to Wagner, and has a sizeable instrument

Christina George, Composer

Currently based in Boston, Christina J. George is a composer-flutist whose compositions fuse ambient music with popular styles and classical forms, drawing inspiration from the organic shapes of the natural world.

Her commissions range from spatially inventive wind band soundscapes for the West Chester University Wind Ensemble to contemporary works for Baroque period instrument ensembles including Wilmington-based Mélomanie. In 2022, she was selected as the winner of Radius

Ensemble’s Pappalardo Composition Competition. Her music has also been performed by Third Coast Percussion, cellist Chris Gross, and tubist Jonathan Fowler. A dedicated performer, Christina is the founder of Ensemble Chordata, a flute ensemble collective dedicated to promoting the works of living composers. She is also a member of Ensemble Uncaged, Longy’s premiere new music ensemble, and has performed in venues such as Carnegie Hall and Dvorak Hall (CZ). Her playing is featured on the multi-genre project Feels Like Honey, designed by composer and bassist Hannah Boissonneault; their most recent album, All Things Endless, will be released in the summer of 2022. As a flutist, she has studied with Kimberly Reighley and Sergio Pallottelli, performed in masterclasses with Erica Peel, Amy Porter, Christina Jennings, Greg Pattillo and Ian Clarke, and participated in the Scottish International Flute Summer School and Amy Porter’s Anatomy of Sound. As a composer, Christina is an alumnus of the Nief-Norf Summer Festival and has studied with Robert Maggio, Jacob Cooper, Amy Beth Kirsten, Adam Silverman, Van Stiefel and Sabrina Clarke. Christina completed her Bachelor’s of Music in Composition and Flute Performance at West Chester University of Pennsylvania and is currently pursuing a Master’s of Music in Composition at Longy School of Music of Bard College, where she also works as the Administrative Assistant for Divergent Studio, Longy’s yearly summer contemporary music intensive. Her favorite sound in the world is the cry of the loon reverberating around a quiet cove.

Dr. Lisa Neher, Composer

New music powerhouse Dr. Lisa Neher is an award-winning composer, mezzo-soprano, and actress on a mission to transform audiences through sound, story, and vulnerability. Described as a “visionary composer” (Willamette Week), “maestro of beautifully wacky noises” (Oregon ArtsWatch), and a composer of “varied and imitable” vocal lines (Contemporary Classical), Neher writes music inspired by female athleticism, the tender love of friends, the ambiguities of death, and the eerie mystery of deep ocean life. Her EP Of Wind and Waves explores the currents of air, water, and emotions that define our natural and psychological world. Neher’s commissioners include Third Angle New Music, Opera Elect, Opera Theatre Oregon, and Dinosaur Annex. She is the winner of the ICDA/ICF Choral Competition and the Mirror Visions Ensemble Young Composer Competition, and is a NATS Composer Mentee, working with Tom Cipullo. Praised as “a small woman with a very big voice” and “especially alive” (Oregon ArtsWatch), Neher captivates audiences as a performer with her electrifying dramatic commitment and unforgettable vocal colors. She recently performed with Really Spicy Opera, Third Angle New Music, the Resonance Ensemble, New Music Gathering, Queer Opera, the International Saxophone Symposium, and Opera Theatre Oregon. For more information, visit www.lisanehermusic.com.