Musicians

Lisa Graham
M.M., D.M.A. in choral music, University of Southern California

Lisa Graham

Conductor

Dr. Lisa Graham holds a Master in Music and Doctor of Musical Arts from the University of Southern California and is in her 21st year as the Evelyn Barry Director of Choral Music, conducting the Wellesley College Choir and Chamber Singers, and teaching Music Department academic courses. She founded the Choral Scholars Program in 2004 for scholarship students selected to study conducting and choral music. Under her direction, the choirs have toured domestically annually and internationally to England, Wales, Canada, Spain, Italy, South Korea and the Baltic States. Active in the Boston musical scene, she has conducted for the Handel + Haydn Society, directing their Holiday Sing concert for several seasons and enjoying a ten-year history of working with their educational outreach program. She has toured with and served as cover conductor for the Boston Pops for ten seasons and prepares the Holiday Pops Singers for Symphony Hall concerts. In 2016, she prepared members of the Tanglewood Festival Chorus for Charles Dutoit's BSO performance of Holst's The Planets. In Spring 2023 she was Music Director of Mass Opera’s production of The Magic Flute and made her conducting debut with the National Youth Choir at Snape Maltings in the United Kingdom. She is a founding member and former President of the National Collegiate Choral Conductor’s Organization and was honored as a Life Member for her service in 2019. She has served on the board of the Eastern Division American Choral Directors Association and is currently President of the Massachusetts chapter. Dr. Graham is the 2021 winner of the American Prize Dale Warland Award in Choral Conducting.

 

 

Emi Nishida

Emi Nishida

Accompanist
Emi Nishida is a Japanese composer and pianist, who started her musical training at the age of five. She joined the Yamaha Music Program in Japan and studied piano performance and composition. Her original works were selected for performance at the annual Junior Original Concert held by Yamaha in Fukuoka, Chiba and Tokyo (1998-2006). She started to compose pieces for piano at first, then broadened her field to small ensembles and contemporary pieces. At 11, she composed the song “Precious Friends” for her elementary school, still sung by students every year. She learned to play percussion instruments. Her work “Rhapsody” (2010) for xylophone, marimba and flute, was performed at Tokyo High School Ensemble Contest and won a silver award. Her composition for 4 hands piano “Into the Wild” was performed at the International Piano Duo Competition and received the Special Chairman Award. Currently she works for short film projects as a composer, is a keyboardist for several musical theater shows and participates in various album recordings.