A native of Colorado, Lisamarie McGrath began her flute studies at 15 years of age with soloist and chamber musician, Susanella Noble. Lisamarie journeyed to the East Coast in 1985 to study flute with renowned principal flutist of the Philadelphia Orchestra, Murray Panitz and in 1989 she received her Bachelor of Music degree (cum laude) from Temple University. Other influential teachers include David Cramer, Associate Principal Flutist of the Philadelphia Orchestra, and Mark Sparks, Principal Flute of the St. Louis Symphony.
Lisamarie has studied, cultivated and honed her musical craft for 28 years and her work is both unique and broad based. Her distinguished career as performer, recording artist, and teacher has included solo, chamber, ethnic, and orchestral performances in such diverse places as Great Britain, Colorado, Wyoming, and the Mid-Atlantic area.
In 2010, Lisamarie Released Unimagined Bridges...Fountain of Consciousness, a CD featuring a commissioned work by Andrea Clearfield for silver flute and Native American flutes called Unimagined Bridges. The CD also includes pieces by James DeMars, Gary Schocker, Katherine Hoover, R. Carlos Nakai, and Earth Meditations by Lisamarie McGrath.
Her recording of Crow Wing, by James DeMars, was featured on the program, Now is the Time, on Philadelphia's WRTI radio broadcast November 28th, 2010.
In 2007, Lisamarie released The Colors Fall, a beautiful double-CD of 20th century classical flute music featuring works by Copland, Bloch, Ibert, Hoover, Hindemith, DeMars, Saint-Saëns, Roussel, Ravel, and Debussy.
Lisamarie’s honors include being a winner of the National Flute Association’s Orchestral Audition Masterclass Competition in 1991 with Leone Buyse. She won the 1991 Pottstown Symphony Young Artists Concerto Competition and performed the Cimarosa Concerto in A Major for two Flutes with the Pottstown Symphony. Lisamarie also won the Fort Collins Young Artist Concerto Competition, Junior Division, in 1983.
Utilizing the healing powers of music has been an integral part of Lisamarie's life. She worked as a music therapist for the Ken Crest Centers of Philadelphia. Her interaction with special needs children there and the miraculous healing and growth they displayed through shared musical experiences was deeply touching. Her captivating performances for Elders in nursing homes, private homes and in hospitals as well as in sacred ceremonies, have been both healing and beautiful.
Currently residing in Pennsylvania, Lisamarie’s other interests include running, biking, photography, cooking, reading, gardening, being environmentally active, and making a difference in her community.
Aho Mitakuye Oyasin! Namaste!
For use in programs, a PDF version of this text is available here and a Word document version is available here. If you'd like a higher resolution of my photo, you can follow this link, or if you'd like a photo of me with one of my Native American flutes, click here.
