User:Lisa Smolen

Life
Lisa Febre (Born Lisa Ann Smolen, May 21, 1974) is musician living in Los Angeles, CA. Born in Rochester NY, she first learned to play the piano at the age of 4, flute at age 9, oboe at age 14, and cello at age 41.

Lisa has one son, born in 2001, and is married to composer Louis Febre.

Education
Lisa is a 1992 graduate of the Eastman School of Music College Preparatory Program, where she studied oboe with Jonathan Parkes & Richard Killmer. She holds a Bachelor of Music in Oboe Performance from Ithaca College where she studied with Mark Hill. She has also studied privately with John Snow. She has had the honor of working with renowned oboists Thomas Stacy, Ronald Roseman and Henry Shuman. She has played under the batons of conductors Larry Racliffe, Craig Kirchoff, Malcolm W. Rowell and Rodney Winther. She currently studies cello with Los Angeles cellist Pamela de Almeida.

Career
From 1997 through 2006, Lisa lived in Western Massachusetts where she made a living performing with small orchestras, chamber ensembles, woodwind quintet, and as a featured soloist with various orchestras. She was an adjudicator for Massachusetts Music Educators Association (MMEA) student competitions and a clinician at musical festivals. She also taught private music lessons to students of all ages both at her self-owned studio and at the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts, North Adams, MA. Lisa was the English horn soloist in both the Berkshire Symphony and the Massachusetts Wind Orchestra & flutist with the Oblong Quintet; she was principal oboist with the Sage City Symphony in Bennington, VT, & a member of several orchestras in Vermont, Massachusetts & New York.

Lisa landed in Las Vegas in 2006, and began performing with "Phantom: The Las Vegas Spectacular" shortly after it debuted that same summer. She also performed with the Las Vegas Philharmonic, Southern Nevada Musical Arts Society, The Nevada Chamber Symphony and other freelance groups in the area. She also enjoyed several colorful engagements at various casinos on the Las Vegas Strip.

After arriving in Los Angeles in 2010, Lisa served as the Principal Oboist with the San Fernando Valley Symphony Orchestra, a position she held until 2015. Freelancing throughout the LA area, Lisa continues to find unique opportunities to share her love of music through television & movie recordings, chamber music and school demonstrations. She also teaches private lessons at her home, and at the Oakwood Elementary School in North Hollywood, CA. In 2016, she returned to San Fernando Symphony as substitute second flute/piccolo.

After suffering an oboe career ending hernia in 2013, Lisa decided to learn to play the cello, something which she had longed to learn since childhood. Beginning in 2016, she plays cello with the Moorpark Symphony Orchestra, studies with Los Angeles cellist Pamela de Almeida, and is working to remake her music career as a cellist.

Recordings
Lisa has recorded woodwinds for various media outlets including television, movies, video games and websites. Lisa performs & records on all woodwinds. Lisa recorded regularly for the television show "Smallville". She was a member of the session orchestra for movies produced by Warner Bros., and 20th Century Fox. In 2010, she was a featured soloist in the Documentary "Stone on Stone" receiving a screen credit for her performances on Oboe & English Horn (as "Lisa Smolen").

Lisa is also a singer/songwriter. To date, Lisa has released 4 CDs which she wrote, performed and produced solo.