On September 13, solo percussionist Lisa Pegher will perform Jennifer Higdon’s Concerto for Percussion and Orchestra with the Lansing Symphony Orchestra. Higdon’s piece gives due consideration to the relationship between the soloist and percussion section, requiring an athletic contribution on the part of the soloist. Pegher has performed the piece before with the Grand Junction Symphony Orchestra (You can view a video of her performance here) and most recently performed it with the Puerto Rico Symphony in San Juan.

The program, which begins at 8:00 pm, will include pieces by Enescu and Dvořák. The Lansing Symphony Orchestra is located at 501 S Capitol Ave, Lansing, Michigan. For tickets and information, please visit lansingsymphony.org.

COMPLETE PROGRAM: 

Enescu, Romanian Rhapsody No. 1 in A Major
Higdon, Percussion Concerto
Dvořák, Symphony No. 7 in D Minor

Lisa Pegher is an American drummer and  percussion soloist currently living in New York City. She has been described by the Boston Globe as “forcefully balletic” and by critic Marty Lash of the Door County Advocateas “a gifted passionate artist, with a rock-star aura.” She has been featured in Symphony Magazine as one of the top six performers of her generation and continues to carve a new path for percussion as a solo instrument.

As a soloist Lisa has performed with many fine orchestras across the globe including the Louisiana Philharmonic, the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, NEPA Philharmonic, Williamsport Symphony Orchestra, Asheville Symphony Orchestra, FM Symphony Orchestra, Southwest Michigan Symphony Orchestra, York Orchestra and the Acadiana Symphony Orchestra, Lansing Orchestra, Lima Symphony Orchestra, Elmhurst Orchestra, and Peninsula Festival Orchestra among others. She has also worked with many inspiring conductors such as Grant Cooper, Thomas Hong, Manfred Honeck, Maximo Valdez, Daniel Meyer, Timothy Muffitt, Victor Yampolsky, Lawrence Loh, Sydney Harth, Lucas Richman, Kevin Noe, Crafton Beck, Tomasz Golka, Emily Ray, Robin Fountain, Brett Mitchell, Bernard Rubenstein, Robert Hart Baker, and Gil Rose. In August 2011 Lisa performed with the Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music Orchestra in Santa Cruz, California celebrating Marin Alsop’s twenty year anniversary season.

She has also recently performed with the Grand Junction Orchestra in Colorado playing Jennifer Higdon’s Concerto for Percussion and is also performing concerti by Joseph Schwanter, James MacMillan, Kevin Puts and Christopher Rouse. Lisa gave the Wisconsin premiere of Tobias Brotrøm’s Arena Percussion Concerto with the Peninsula Festival Orchestra in August 2010 and recently premiered and recorded Mathew Rosenblum’s Double Concerto for Saxophone and Percussion with the Boston Modern Orchestra Project, Gil Rose and Kenneth Koon. This recording will be released on the BMOP Sound label in coming months. As an advocate of new music, she also recently premiered a new marimba solo by composer, Derek Bermel at the Institute for Advanced Studies in Princeton, New Jersey and has also been involved with commissioning new works from Martin Bresnick and Paul Lansky.

Constantly looking for new artistic ways to present percussion to a broader audience, Lisa is currently performing her own multi-media project called: Minimal Art, which incorporates digital animation design, computer electronics and improvisation. It is featured on her newly released album. She also recently won a grant from Meet the Composer allowing her to commission a new percussion concerto by American Composer, David Stock that she premiered with a consortium of orchestras beginning in the 2007-08 season. Previous to the launch of full-time solo career, Lisa performed as the Principal Timpanist of the Acadiana Symphony Orchestra and Section Percussionist with the Baton Rouge Symphony Orchestra.