91原创

Biography

Dr. Lisa Willson DeNolfo, D.M.A., is delighted to commence her appointment at the 91原创 as an adjunct assistant professor of voice. Lisa has dedicated her life to teaching since her late teens. In 2004, she founded the Willson Vocal Academy in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania. She and her husband, tenor Ian DeNolfo (Executive Director of The Voice Foundation) co-manage the academy, which comprises five instructors and accommodates approximately 140 students. Their renowned five-week Summer Vocal Boot Camp is held annually in Wayne, Pennsylvania. Prior to her current position, Lisa held faculty positions at Temple University, Bryn Mawr College, and Haverford College. She served as the director of the Philadelphia International Music Festival Opera Theater Program (PIMF) and was a voice instructor and choir director at Merion Mercy Academy High School for seven years. Lisa has had the privilege of studying under esteemed voice instructors, including Madame Elizabeth Schwarzkopf, Marlena Malas, Bill Schumann, Dr. Christine Anderson, and Adele Addison.聽Currently, she continues her vocal studies with Margaret Baroody and Dr. Robert T. Sataloff, and coaches with Mr. Richard Raub and Mr. Luke Housner. Lisa is the president of Greater Philadelphia NATS, a former board member of the Women鈥檚 Sacred Music Project, and a sustaining member of The Voice Foundation. She and her students actively participate in Philadelphia鈥檚 Annual Voice Symposium and perform at community outreach events annually. In addition, Lisa enjoys being a collaborative pianist.

Dr. DeNolfo recently completed her Doctoral of Musical Arts degree from Temple University. Her published monograph, 鈥�Twenty-First Century Women Composers of Philadelphia: Analysis of Individualistic Expression of Collaborative Art Song as Demonstrated in Andrea Clearfield鈥檚 A Reminiscence Sing and Jennifer Higdon鈥檚 Love Sweet,鈥� provides a concise historical overview of a select group of women composers in Philadelphia from the late eighteenth century to the present. The monograph emphasizes chamber art song in the twenty-first century.

Over the past several years, Lisa has captivated audiences with her work as a soprano soloist. She performed Richard Strauss鈥� Vier Letzte Lieder conducted by Jos茅 Luis Dom铆nguez with the Temple University Symphony Orchestra and was the soprano soloist in Beethoven鈥檚 Ninth Symphony at the Kimmel Center under the baton of Kensho Watanabe. Recently, she performed Samuel Barber鈥檚 Knoxville: Summer of 1915, Richard Wagner鈥檚 Liebestod, and Richard Strauss鈥� Vier Letzte Lieder with the Landsdowne Symphony under the baton of Maestro Reuben Blundell. Additionally, she has appeared with the Lower Merion Symphony, singing selections from Wagner鈥檚 Die Walk眉re and Die G枚tterdammerung, including Br眉nnhilde鈥�s Immolation Scene. In addition, she also appeared as a soloist in Andrea Clearfield鈥檚 37th Anniversary Year Szalon, singing selections from a new song cycle written for and dedicated to Lisa, entitled Love in the Midst, composed by Dr. Cynthia Folio. She is the featured singer and interpreter of a collection of Yiddish art songs written by David Botwinik, From Holocaust to Life (iTunes and CD Baby). She has performed these songs at Haverford College, the Segal Performing Arts Center in Montreal, and the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research in New York City. Lisa and Israeli pianist/ cellist Dr. Michal Schmidt performed in a 鈥淭ribute to Andrea Clearfield鈥� at the Philadelphia Ethical Society as part of Dr. Schmidt鈥檚 Tribute Concert Series.

Lisa鈥檚 other concert appearances include her role as a soprano soloist in Verdi鈥檚 Requiem Mass, titled The Defiant Requiem, performed with the Oregon Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Maestro Murray Sidlin. This performance was broadcast nationally on PBS. Additionally, she has performed as a soloist with the Washington Choral Arts Society, portraying Soprano I in Mahler鈥檚 Symphony No. 8 and later as the soprano soloist for their Christmas concerts at the Kennedy Center under the baton of Maestro Norman Scribner. Her repertoire also includes soprano soloist performances in Hadyn鈥檚 Lord Nelson Mass and Bach鈥檚 Mass in B Minor with the Philadelphia Chamber Orchestra. She has also performed Brahm鈥檚 Ein Deutsches Requiem with the Brooklyn Philharmonic Orchestra, Dvorak鈥檚 Stabat Mater at Z眉rich鈥檚 Tonhalle, Hermann Sutter鈥檚 Requiem in Basel, the Mozart Requiem, and Britten鈥檚 War Requiem with the Virginia Tech University Orchestra. Notably, she premiered John Cage鈥檚 Europera V at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City.

On the operatic stage, she has portrayed several of the lirico-spinto and young dramatic roles, including Tosca, Ariadne, Jenufa, Desdemona, Rosalinde, Fiordiligi, Countess, Donna Elvira, Goose Girl, Michaela, Violetta, and Komponist. She has performed with the Opera Company of Philadelphia, San Francisco Western Opera Theater, Long Beach Opera, Sarasota Opera, Opera Colorado, Opera Roanoke, Basel, Switzerland, and Saverne, France. Awards include being a European finalist in the Luciano Pavarotti International Competition, a two-time winner of the Gerda Lissner Foundation grant, a five-time winner of the Sergio Franchi Foundation Grant, and a recipient at the Mario Lanza competition in Philadelphia. Lisa received her M.M. degree from The Manhattan School of Music and her B.M. in Vocal Performance from The Lionel Hampton School of Music at The University of Idaho. She was a two-year artist at The Academy of Vocal Arts and a member of The Juilliard Opera Center. In addition, Lisa was a solo vocalist with the Lionel Hampton Orchestra on a concert tour throughout California following her graduation from college. She has conducted master classes at The University Of Idaho Jazz Festival, Eastern Washington University, the Fox Theatre in Spokane, Washington, and at The Voice Foundation鈥檚 Annual Symposium workshops.