“Percussionist Lisa Pegher says there is a simple reason she performs the Kevin Puts marimba concerto frequently.

“Kevin nailed it,” she says emphatically after lamenting about how some composers simply do not know how to write for the marimba.

Pegher, who is operating her career out of Pittsburgh, will perform the concerto Saturday with the Westmoreland Symphony Orchestra at the Palace Theatre in Greensburg. The performance will be conducted by Thomas Hong, who serves as assistant conductor for the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra.

Puts, who lives in New York City and teaches at the Peabody Institute in Baltimore, says Pegher is “one of my favorite percussionists” because of the way she has played his works, even though they have never met.

Pegher is impressed with Puts’ understanding of the sound of the instrument, one of the reasons she says she keeps it “part of my repertoire.”

She says many composers write for the marimba as though it were a piano. They look at the ways the keys are laid out — like a piano’s — and write in a chordal way, which really does not suit the instrument.

“If you look at the lines Kevin wrote, you will see they are much more like something a violin would play,” she says.

She and the composer agree the concerto is something like a Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart piano concerto, particularly in the way the solo instrument and orchestra interchange thoughts.

Puts says the concerto “is one of my most-performed pieces.” He was commissioned to write the work in 1997, and it has been played by many ensembles and types of groups, he says. Pegher alone has added to that history; she recently performed it with a chamber orchestra.

She says she suggested the work to Daniel Meyer, artistic director of the orchestra, when he talked to her about a solo role.

But, she says, Meyer didn’t want to get involved with the “whole percussion issue” that often involves filling the stage with a great variety of those instruments. Doing a marimba concerto was closer to performing a piano or violin piece.

Along with this new work, the concert also will feature a suite from Ottorino Resphigi’s “Ancient Airs and Dances” and Felix Mendelsson’s symphony No. 4.

Pegher, a native of Clinton in western Allegheny County, is a busy soloist who, for a time, was living in New Orleans where she was performing with some orchestras there. When she decided to move her career more in the solo direction, she moved back to Pittsburgh, where she was able to rent warehouse space in the North Side to use as a percussion studio.

She is not sure if she will stay in Pittsburgh, but is finding success with it right now as a place to run her career, she says. Her schedule has made her well known enough that composer Richard Danielpour is writing a percussion concerto for her to be debuted in the 2013-14 season.

She says they are working on assembling a consortium of orchestras to perform the work.”

http://triblive.com/home/1047356-85/says-strong-concerto-orchestra-pegher-marimba-piano-pittsburgh-puts-quot

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It was so nice to perform Kevin Puts’ marimba concerto last evening with Tomas Hong and the Westmoreland Symphony Orchestra. One of my favorite things to do is speak to audiences before performances about the world of percussion. Performing a concerto written only for one instrument was also a nice change from the norm of the larger percussion set-ups that I am usually involved with.

When performing on stage last night I wanted to bring across the feeling of optimism which is the underlying message of the work. Being that I myself am known to be a foolish optimist, I carry this feeling with me always. What else is there in this life?

Thanks to everyone who made it out to the performance last night. It was great to see so many familiar faces.

Here’s to hope, freedom, optimism, and living in the present moment.

Until next time,

Lisa P.

Photos: (above) myself and conductor, Tomas Hong (below) rehearsal shot with WSO

Life Force. Energy. Flow. The interconnectedness of all.  In music, this is something that is found within, and takes on a type of formlessness when it is outputted in performance. This is why nothing can ever take the place of live performance. The energy that is created and exerted upon delivery and execution of a passage of music can not be experienced in the same way as listening to that same passage on a recording.

As I work up a concerto, the more I practice a composition, the more I become the composition.. Or, perhaps, it becomes me. This is a phenomenon that I can’t fully put into words because it is more of an experience that a subject. What I can tell you is that the only way this happens is by getting to know a piece of music inside out, and letting that piece inside of you–without an end point. It’s no longer me playing a piece, it’s the piece playing through me. This can be experienced with any task in life, really. The only real method of accomplishing this though, is through true, focused, disciplined practice. Once you find that energy within, all things are possible.

These are some thoughts I’ve had while working on Kevin Puts’ Marimba Concerto over the past few months. Hour upon hour, the music on the page does not change. But, each time I play the notes, there is something different. Something more. It happens when the notes are no longer seen, but felt. The music is internalized and transformed within.

Kevin Puts’ music is always artistically fulfilling and rewarding to practice and perform. I hope you will come and share the experience with me next month.

Here are some details on the concert: http://westmorelandsymphony.org/concerts/old-and-new-worlds-april-21/

The most meaningful part of my trip was having the composer, Joseph Schwantner there for the duration of my performances. Being that his concerto inspired me to be a solo percussionist and that his concerto was the first percussion concerto I ever studied, last week felt like a huge milestone in my career as a soloist. It was so great to talk one on one with the composer about the work and to share our personal insights and experiences with the audiences.

Here are some parting shots and press from the trip. Next up: Recording sessions, performances of Kevin Puts’ Marimba Concerto and a new studio space!

What defines us? Often, I wonder how and why people recognize each other. As a professional musician, people often define me by what I do, not knowing much about who I am. It may be interesting that I play the drums for a living, but more interesting is how I got to this point. Where I came from, the daily struggles, the lifetime of different experiences. I suppose those things make me who I am more than what I do.

As I transformed my studio from one large percussion set up to another one this weekend, I also recognize how I myself have transformed from one work to another. When you look at what a soloist does, you see that we are often re-creating works over and over again. Some might think that this could get boring. But re-creation in performance is anything but that. I am not the same person I was last April when I performed Joseph Schwantner’s Percussion Concerto with the Lima Symphony Orchestra. And, when I performed the solo version of Tobias Brostrom’s Arena last week; it wasn’t the same as last summer with the Peninsula Festival Orchestra.

Indeed, the print of music remains the same. But, it is the performer which is constantly changing. This is what makes live performance more interesting and exciting than any recording or computer imitation. The music speaks through me, and I through the music. It contains all of what I’m going through, what I’ve been through, and where I’m going. The creativity lies within the performer, the artist. Without this, the notes are dead. They have no life on that page without performer–just as the paintbrush has no meaning without the painter. Listen deeply, and you will start to know not just the music, but also the person performing it.

If you happen to be around Charleston, WV in January, come hear me perform Joseph Schwantner’s Concerto for Percussion with the West Virginia Symphony Orchestra. I want to share its life, and mine with you.

See you soon,

Lisa P.

Just a quick announcement: If you have time on Tuesday, November 8th, tune into WOMR.org and listen to The Latest Score.  The host, Canary Burton, will be playing some of my recordings and talking about my career as a solo percussionist. It will begin streaming live at 2:00PM, EST.

Thanks for tuning in!

Lisa

Greetings all.

As I work on my upcoming performances and having spent some time in NYC last week, I cannot help but ponder the state of the arts in our society right now. There are so many creative and interesting things happening.  For one, the SONiC Festival was taking place. If you haven’t heard of it, you should.  Just to listen to the excerpts and watch the video on the website makes one feel that we really are part of a movement that is taking place in music right now. Change is inevitable and embracing it makes it all the more exciting. The music is evolving at such a rapid pace right now that it is sometimes difficult to sort through it all but it assures us that the arts are still alive.

It also saddens me that music and arts are being somewhat downgraded in importance because of this unstable economy. As musicians and artists, we can look at it as a reason to give up, or as a reason to stand up.

We must continue to work around road blocks and come up with new ways to present interesting art and performances to the public. There is one universal solution to every problem: Work Harder.

Every time I hear about a new budget cut that will affect the arts, or politicians speaking about how art and music is not important in education, I see this image in my head of what New York City, Los Angeles, or Dubai would look like if these people built it. What I see are square boxes. Miles and miles of square boxes. Who wants to live in a place like that?

The work we do is the good work. If you are struggling as an artist or musician right now, my advice is to find a way around it. Be creative. It’s what we do.  Do not let a square box be built where you stand.

-Lisa P.

The launch of the new site was successful, and I’m happy to have new innovative ways to keep in touch with my audience. Some of the most important aspects of the new site are that you can now buy tickets to upcoming shows directly from the site. You can also sign up for my newsletter that will keep you informed about new projects, and compositions for solo percussion. Please sign up, or leave a message on the contact form. I would love to hear from you.

Also check out the new Listen/Watch page where you can hear a recent in depth interview about my career in solo percussion and watch short clips of recent performances. The next few months are going to be exciting and I’m looking forward to sharing them with all of you.

Stay tuned…

Lisa

In two months my new website will be launched where you will be able to view videos, music, check out my upcoming performances and learn more about my touring show: Minimal Art.

Until the new site is finished, keep an eye on my twitter account for upcoming shows, or like me on Facebook to also get up to date links on where I am in the world.

I’m Looking forward to new beginnings this season, and have so many exciting new projects, commissions and concerts in store to share with all of you!

Find calendar updates below while my new website is being constructed:

Twitter: @LisaP_SoloDrums

Facebook: www.facebook.com/pages/Lisa-Pegher/279462728450

I’m just arriving home from an amazing performance of Joseph Schwantner’s Percussion Concerto with Crafton Beck and the Lima Symphony Orchestra this past weekend. The past few months have been a whirlwind of performing and the past two years have been full of new concerti, projects and new surroundings.

In January I was thrilled to present the world premiere of Mathew Rosenblum’s Double Concerto with Kenneth Koon, Gil Rose and the Boston Modern Orchestra. Before that, I made a trip to Princeton on the IAS concert series hosted by one of my favorite composers, Derek Bermel. Although my season is not over, I wanted to pause to remember all that has taken place since December. I’m looking forward to writing more as the season wraps up, but until then, here are some photos of some wonderful moments that have already taken place.