Steinway Artist Lisa Emenheiser is heralded for her "intense music-making and pianism".  She has been performing with the National Symphony Orchestra for the past 30 years. A graduate of Juilliard School, where she earned both Bachelor's and Master's of Music degrees, Ms Emenheiser is a past winner of the "Young Artist in Recital" and "National Arts Club" competitions. 



A native of Washington, D.C., Ms. Emenheiser began her piano studies at the age of four and made her debut at the age of seventeen  performing the Grieg Piano Concerto with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra and "The President's Own" United States Marine Band. 

 

Ms. Emenheiser has performed in recital at Alice Tully Hall, Avery Fischer Hall, Carnegie Recital Hall and has appeared in concerts at the National Gallery, Phillips Collection, Smithsonian Institute, Kennedy Center and at the embassies of France, Austria, Germany, Britain, Slovenia, and Spain. As described by the New York Times, Lisa "played the piano dazzlingly", and by the Washington Post, she "shimmered and beguiled, shifting easily between virtuosity and transparency." Ms. Emenheiser has appeared as soloist with the National Symphony Orchestra, the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, The Richmond Symphony, the Kennedy Center Opera House Orchestra, the Virginia Chamber Orchestra, the Fairfax Symphony, the McLean Orchestra and was one of the featured soloists for the Kennedy Center's Piano 2000 Festival. Ms. Emenheiser was also a soloist for the Kennedy Center's "Journey to America" Festival, and the NSO's Composer Portrait: Mozart. She has performed under the batons of some of the world's most distinguished conductors, including Maestros Eschenbach, Rostropovich, Solti, Slatkin, Fruhbeck de Burgos, Jarvi, Kuenzel, and Maazel, and has been rehearsal pianist for many of the soloists who performed with the National Symphony. 

 

Lisa is an established chamber musician, and appears regularly with musicians of the National Symphony Orchestra. She may be heard on numerous Kennedy Center  Millennium  performances.  Lisa shared the stage with Christoph Eschenbach as part of the Kennedy Center's Iberian Festival.  She has performed with many extraordinary soloists, including Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg, Glenn Dicterow, Julius Baker, Eugenia Zukerman, Ransom Wilson, Philipe Quint,  and Jean-Pierre Rampal. She has appeared in solo and chamber performances across the United States, as well as internationally, including performances in London, Manchester, Berne, Haifa, Nice, Mexico City, Zagreb, and Ljubljana. Ms. Emenheiser has performed in both national and international summer music festivals, including Aspen, Hidden Valley, Strings in the Mountains, Snake River Chamber Players, Penn-Alps, Garth Newell, Masterworks, and L'Academie Internationale d'Ete de Nice.  Her vast orchestral performances are equally as extensive, including tours of Europe, and American residencies in Alaska, Maine, Wyoming, Montana, Nebraska, Texas, Alabama, Vermont, Oklahoma, North Dakota, and West Virginia.

 

Lisa also works with the Kennedy Center Opera House Orchestra, and has performed with some of the finest ballet companies.  She has been both soloist and orchestral keyboardist for numerous performances, and was featured soloist in Phillip Glass’s “Metamorphosis” and Stravinsky’s “Movements for Piano and Orchestra”.

 

Lisa is an avid performer of contemporary music. She is pianist for the 21st Century Consort in Washington, D.C., where she has premiered works by Stephen Albert, Nicholas Maw, Eugene O'Brien, David Froom, Donald Crockett, and many others.  Recently Lisa premiered Stephen Jaffe's "Tableaux", a major piano work commissioned by the 21st Century Consort for Lisa.   Additionally, Lisa was featured on national television as an expert artist commentator and performer in the PBS documentary entitled “Exploring Your Brain”, in which she performed Ginastera’s Piano Sonata No. 1 and discussed the topic of memory with Garrick Utley.  

 

A committed teacher, Lisa was awarded the "Steinway & Sons Top Teacher Award" for years 2016-2022.  She is excited to have most recently been inducted into Steinway's first "Teacher Hall of Fame".  Many of Lisa's students achieve top recognition in both local and international competitions.  She holds a private studio in her home, and has represented the NSO on various occasions by teaching masterclasses and serving as  piano instructor for cultural exchange liaisons.  She is also a teacher/coach for the NSO Summer Music Institute and is excited to serve as a piano mentor for the 2023-2024 NSO Youth Fellows program.

 

 Ms. Emenheiser has recorded for Steinway Spirio and is excited to be part of their collection performing "Three Preludes on Gregorian Melodies" by Respighi and    "Down by the Riverside"  and "Winnsboro Cotton Mill Blues" by Frederic Rzewski.  She has also recorded for the Bridge, Albany, Decca, Pro Arte, Naxos, VAI Audio, Centaur, Arabesque, Delos, AUR, Jubal House,and Cascades labels.