Opera Uprising

Talk about mindset: "What do I want to learn next?"

And we answer the question "What can musicians do to empower themselves?"

We talk deeply about the creative process, sitting with discomfort, and artist empowerment through entrepreneurship. Her journey from " I'm not a real musician" to producing her own composition is incredibly inspiring to so many people.

Jennifer Rosenfeld helps musicians build exceptional teaching and coaching businesses that scale their expertise, provide a solid financial foundation, and give them the freedom to pursue creative projects.

Her career bridges artistic work (she's writing musicals) and business. I love helping clients discover that business can be a meaningful creative outlet and that an artistic career is enhanced by the authentic implementation of foundational business skills.

Above all, her mission is to help professionals in the arts unleash their creative potential and design a career business structure that is uniquely tailored to support their lives.

You can find her Podcast about the creation of White Rose Diaries

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Books we Mentioned:

Overcoming Underearning

Tapping Into Wealth

We also mentioned:

Jenny Clift

For Part I of the interview, please see Previous Post With a shared passion for Music, Text & Story, we talk about the many hurdles young musicians face in getting the support they need to succeed. We talk about the impact of the pandemic and the lessons we've learned along the way. Most importantly we talk about the soul-deep need for community that is the human experience, and how we can use music to connect.

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. Lisa's musical-theatrical fluency and passion for contemporary music have led to engagements such as Reciter for William Walton's Façade with the Portland Columbia Symphony Orchestra, the world premiere of Space Station 189: A Micro-Opera for Instagram at New Music Gathering, the first staged version of Sun Songs: Three Micro-Operas by Augusta Read Thomas with the Center for New Music, the world premiere of Aaron Israel Levin's Fiumana, for mezzo-soprano singing while playing the bass drum, and the leading role of Jennifer in the world premiere of Rita Ueda's chamber opera One Thousand White Paper Cranes for Japan with the Singaporean ensemble Chamber Sounds. Her recent engagements include performances with Third Angle New Music, the Resonance Ensemble, Opera Theatre Oregon, Queer Opera, and the International Saxophone Symposium. 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 is in high demand as a concert soloist. Her credits include Duruflé's Requiem, Mozart's Requiem, Vesperae Solennes de Confessore, and Coronation Mass, Bach's Magnificat and Ascension Oratorio, and Arvo Part's Pässio, with groups such as the Central Iowa Symphony, the Grinnell Oratorio Singers, and the Chamber Singers of Iowa City. Her operatic credits include Dorabella in Così fan tutte with Iowa City Concert Opera, Dolores in The Gondoliers, Mrs. Malaprop in The Rivals, Orlofsky in Die Fledermaus and Annio in La clemenza di Tito with Martha-Ellen Tye Opera Theatre, the Student in the premiere of the chamber opera The Nightingale and the Rose by Li Kai Han Jeremiah with Helianthus Ensemble, and Cherubino in Le nozze di Figaro with the Midwest Institute of Opera. Lisa was a Young Artist with Cedar Rapids Opera Theatre and the Vancouver International Song Institute. Lisa's compositions include solo and chamber music for instruments and vocal works in the operatic, song, and choral genres. 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.​

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• Twitter

• LinkedIn

• Instagram

• Announcing Something About Isolation, a series of web releases Nov 8-20

• Lisa is selected as one of 10 composers for this season's NATS Mentoring Program for Composers

• Lisa's opera with Kendra Preston Leonard Par for the Course​ programmed on New Opera West's Pop-Up Festival 2022!

• Lisa's choral work Three Basho Haiku chosen for Project: Encore Catalog

• Lisa is the winner of the 2021 Iowa Composer's Forum / Iowa Choral Directors Association Composition Contest for Three Basho Haiku

• Lisa and Kendra Preston Leonard release new Halloween songs for young singers

• ​Read Now: BRINGING GRIT AND GUTS TO OPERA, a profile of Lisa in Oregon ArtsWatch

• Read Now: MUSICAL READINGS ON A BROKEN WORLD, the story behind Red Vespa's commission of Upon a Broken World in Women's Song Forum

With a shared passion for Music, Text & Story, we talk about the many hurdles young musicians face in getting the support they need to succeed. We talk about the impact of the pandemic and the lessons we've learned along the way. Most importantly we talk about the soul-deep need for community that is the human experience, and how we can use music to connect.

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. Lisa's musical-theatrical fluency and passion for contemporary music have led to engagements such as Reciter for William Walton's Façade with the Portland Columbia Symphony Orchestra, the world premiere of Space Station 189: A Micro-Opera for Instagram at New Music Gathering, the first staged version of Sun Songs: Three Micro-Operas by Augusta Read Thomas with the Center for New Music, the world premiere of Aaron Israel Levin's Fiumana, for mezzo-soprano singing while playing the bass drum, and the leading role of Jennifer in the world premiere of Rita Ueda's chamber opera One Thousand White Paper Cranes for Japan with the Singaporean ensemble Chamber Sounds. Her recent engagements include performances with Third Angle New Music, the Resonance Ensemble, Opera Theatre Oregon, Queer Opera, and the International Saxophone Symposium. 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 is in high demand as a concert soloist. Her credits include Duruflé's Requiem, Mozart's Requiem, Vesperae Solennes de Confessore, and Coronation Mass, Bach's Magnificat and Ascension Oratorio, and Arvo Part's Pässio, with groups such as the Central Iowa Symphony, the Grinnell Oratorio Singers, and the Chamber Singers of Iowa City. Her operatic credits include Dorabella in Così fan tutte with Iowa City Concert Opera, Dolores in The Gondoliers, Mrs. Malaprop in The Rivals, Orlofsky in Die Fledermaus and Annio in La clemenza di Tito with Martha-Ellen Tye Opera Theatre, the Student in the premiere of the chamber opera The Nightingale and the Rose by Li Kai Han Jeremiah with Helianthus Ensemble, and Cherubino in Le nozze di Figaro with the Midwest Institute of Opera. Lisa was a Young Artist with Cedar Rapids Opera Theatre and the Vancouver International Song Institute. Lisa's compositions include solo and chamber music for instruments and vocal works in the operatic, song, and choral genres. 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.​

• Facebook

• Twitter

• LinkedIn

• Instagram

• Announcing Something About Isolation, a series of web releases Nov 8-20

• Lisa is selected as one of 10 composers for this season's NATS Mentoring Program for Composers

• Lisa's opera with Kendra Preston Leonard Par for the Course​ programmed on New Opera West's Pop-Up Festival 2022!

• Lisa's choral work Three Basho Haiku chosen for Project: Encore Catalog

• Lisa is the winner of the 2021 Iowa Composer's Forum / Iowa Choral Directors Association Composition Contest for Three Basho Haiku

• Lisa and Kendra Preston Leonard release new Halloween songs for young singers

• ​Read Now: BRINGING GRIT AND GUTS TO OPERA, a profile of Lisa in Oregon ArtsWatch

• Read Now: MUSICAL READINGS ON A BROKEN WORLD, the story behind Red Vespa's commission of Upon a Broken World in Women's Song Forum

Hailed as "the Steve Jobs of classical music" (Observer) and "the Sheryl Sandberg of the symphony" (LA Review of Books), Aubrey Bergauer is known for her results-driven, customer-centric, data-obsessed pursuit of changing the narrative for the performing arts. A "dynamic administrator" with an "unquenchable drive for canny innovation" (San Francisco Chronicle), her leadership as Executive Director of the California Symphony propelled the organization to double the size of its audience and nearly quadruple the donor base.

Bergauer's ability to cast and communicate vision moves large teams forward and brings stakeholders together across the institution, earning her "a reputation for coming up with great ideas and then realizing them" (San Francisco Classical Voice). Her drive to see opportunity in place of unsolvable challenges or irreversible trends produces different results than the norm, secures new revenue streams, and galvanizes audiences and donors. Bergauer builds strategic plans and organizations, leverages technology and new media to elevate and extend the brand, and prioritizes diversity and inclusion to create a stronger product on stage and off.

A graduate of Rice University with degrees in Music Performance and Business, her work and leadership has been covered in national publications including Entrepreneur, Thrive Global, Wall Street Journal, and Southwest Airlines and Symphony magazines, and she is a frequent speaker at universities and conferences across North America, including Adobe's Magento, TEDx, Opera America, the League of American Orchestras, and Orchestras Canada. In 2020, she launched the Center for Innovative Leadership at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music while continuing her consulting practice empowering large nonprofits to deliver game-changing results.

And Yet She Persisted,

Much Like the characters she plays Carrie Hennessey is outdoing herself and performing up a storm in 2021. We talk about the preparation process for big projects, what it feels like to return to singing and LAUGH! We also talk about solutions to the problems Opera is facing as stages reopen and opportunities to innovate along the way. I hope you enjoy our conversation as much as I did!

Known for her soaring voice and richly nuanced characters, soprano Carrie Hennessey is consistently thrilling audiences and critics in opera and concert appearances around the world. Ms. Hennessey's much awaited debut in Previn's A Streetcar Named Desire "gave us a Blanche that let us burrow into her character's soul, even into the darkest crevices…Hennessey, using a one-two punch of music and drama, made it resonate in a way that equaled the finest stage performances of the part I've seen." (Fresno Bee) Ms. Hennessey's embodiment of the title role in the West Coast Premiere of Tobias Picker's opera Emmeline earned her a Bay Area Broadway World Awards for "Best Leading Actress in a Musical" nomination. Praised for bringing her signature "exquisite vocal purity and range to the title role"and was "nothing short of sensational" (San Francisco Classical Voice). As Mimì in La Bohème, Ms. Hennessey "..possessed of a full, powerful lyric soprano, which delivers Puccini's arias and duets richly. Her "Mi chiamano Mimì" (Yes, they call me Mimì) in Act 1 is gorgeous". (San Francisco Classical Voice) On only one day's notice, Ms. Hennessey made her debut with the Modesto Symphony Orchestra, as soprano soloist in Mahler's Symphony No. 4, to great acclaim.

The 2021/2022 joyous return to the stage includes title role debut in Kát'á Kabanová by Leoš Janáček with West Edge Opera and Rose in At the Statue of Venus with Festival Opera accompanied on piano by composer Jake Heggie. Ms. Hennessey will appear in the inaugural season of the Capitol Public Radio Garden Concert Series, as soloist of operatic arias with the Cleveland Philharmonic, as well as numerous recitals, chamber music concerts and continuous music education projects.

You can read more about Carrie HERE

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n our premiere episode, we speak with Rosśa Crean about his music, the inspiration behind it, and how his life experiences have driven his compositions.