Lois Ferrari

Notable Achievements

Professor of Music Lois Ferrari conducted and presided over the Austin Civic Orchestra’s (ACO’s) second virtual concert on October 24. This concert program was designed to provide the orchestra’s musicians with a safe environment in which to rehearse and perform during the current pandemic. ACO members were assigned to small chamber groups or chose to form their own groups, all with social distancing and aerosol management at the forefront of consideration. The members rehearsed for four weeks and then recorded their performances at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center in Austin. The streamed event drew a large appreciative virtual audience on both the ACO Facebook page and YouTube channel. Ferrari and the ACO plan to continue this practice through the spring semester.

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Lois Ferrari

Professor of Music

Expertise

Orchestra, Wind Ensemble, Conducting

Italian-American conductor, Lois Ferrari, is Professor of Music at Southwestern University in Georgetown, Texas and has been a member of the faculty since 1993. Dr. Ferrari conducts the SU Orchestra and Wind Ensemble, and teaches conducting. She also serves as host and clinician for the SU Conductors’ Institute in Instrumental conducting. 

As Music Director of the Austin Civic Orchestra, Maestra Ferrari was awarded 2nd place (2016 and 2019) and Finalist (2014) for the American Prize in community orchestra conducting. In 2010, she was honored as the first woman to conduct an orchestral performance at the Long Center for the Performing Arts in Austin. Over the years, Dr. Ferrari has brought many celebrated guest artists to the ACO stage, including David Amram, Peter Bay, Lauren Lane, Jessica Mathaes, Anton Nel, Michelle Schumann, and David Whitwell. 

She has also been intimately involved with nurturing future virtuosi through the ACO’s Pearl Amster Youth Concerto Festival and Chamber Music Program, and with the Texas Rising Stars Concert, presented in collaboration with the Butler School of Music at the University of Texas. 

An enthusiastic champion of new music, Maestra Ferrari founded the ACO Composition Contest and is proud to have premiered nearly thirty works during the course of her career. One such work was nominated by the Austin Critics’ Table for Best Symphonic Performance of 2009. In 2012, Dr. Ferrari and the ACO were commissioned by composer David Amram to present the Texas premiere of his Symphonic Variations on a Song by Woody Guthrie.

A graduate of the Eastman School of Music, where she received a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in conducting, Dr. Ferrari received a full doctoral fellowship and was appointed Associate Conductor of the renowned Eastman Wind Ensemble. She also earned a Master of Music degree in conducting and a Bachelor of Music degree with a double major in performance and music education from the Ithaca College School of Music. Her principal teachers were Donald Hunsberger, Rodney Winther, David Effron, Pamela Gearhart, Larry Doebler, and Donald Neuen.

Originally from Long Island, NY, Maestra Ferrari now resides in Georgetown, TX with her husband, Dr. Paul Gaffney, and their black sister kitties, Hilda and Zelda.

Education

Doctor of Musical Arts, Eastman School of Music 1993
Master of Music, Ithaca College School of Music 1989
Bachelor of Music, Ithaca College School of Music 1984
pre-med (transferred), SUNY Albany 1980

  • Biography

    Italian-American conductor, Lois Ferrari, is Professor of Music at Southwestern University in Georgetown, Texas and has been a member of the faculty since 1993. Dr. Ferrari conducts the SU Orchestra and Wind Ensemble, and teaches conducting. She also serves as host and clinician for the SU Conductors’ Institute in Instrumental conducting. 

    As Music Director of the Austin Civic Orchestra, Maestra Ferrari was awarded 2nd place (2016 and 2019) and Finalist (2014) for the American Prize in community orchestra conducting. In 2010, she was honored as the first woman to conduct an orchestral performance at the Long Center for the Performing Arts in Austin. Over the years, Dr. Ferrari has brought many celebrated guest artists to the ACO stage, including David Amram, Peter Bay, Lauren Lane, Jessica Mathaes, Anton Nel, Michelle Schumann, and David Whitwell. 

    She has also been intimately involved with nurturing future virtuosi through the ACO’s Pearl Amster Youth Concerto Festival and Chamber Music Program, and with the Texas Rising Stars Concert, presented in collaboration with the Butler School of Music at the University of Texas. 

    An enthusiastic champion of new music, Maestra Ferrari founded the ACO Composition Contest and is proud to have premiered nearly thirty works during the course of her career. One such work was nominated by the Austin Critics’ Table for Best Symphonic Performance of 2009. In 2012, Dr. Ferrari and the ACO were commissioned by composer David Amram to present the Texas premiere of his Symphonic Variations on a Song by Woody Guthrie.

    A graduate of the Eastman School of Music, where she received a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in conducting, Dr. Ferrari received a full doctoral fellowship and was appointed Associate Conductor of the renowned Eastman Wind Ensemble. She also earned a Master of Music degree in conducting and a Bachelor of Music degree with a double major in performance and music education from the Ithaca College School of Music. Her principal teachers were Donald Hunsberger, Rodney Winther, David Effron, Pamela Gearhart, Larry Doebler, and Donald Neuen.

    Originally from Long Island, NY, Maestra Ferrari now resides in Georgetown, TX with her husband, Dr. Paul Gaffney, and their black sister kitties, Hilda and Zelda.

    Education

    Doctor of Musical Arts, Eastman School of Music 1993
    Master of Music, Ithaca College School of Music 1989
    Bachelor of Music, Ithaca College School of Music 1984
    pre-med (transferred), SUNY Albany 1980

  • Research

    Ongoing research - score preparation and repertoire research for 6-7 Austin Civic Orchestra concerts per year.

    Instrumental Music Programs and the Liberal Arts College - research conducted during Fall 2004 SU sabbatical.

    Piece of Mind and Shakata: Two Wind Band Compositions by Dana Wilson - research conducted as part of 1997 doctoral dissertation project and concert; Eastman School of Music

  • Publications

     

    That’s No Lady… That’s the Conductor! - BD Guide (1995)

    Stop Buying Junk - BD Guide (1992)

  • Works

    Screenplays - On the Fence (optioned) and Ruby’s Quest (in progress)

    Stage Play - On the Fence

    Sitcom Teleplay - The Nanny: Wreck the Malls and Strokes of Luck

    Drama Teleplay - Star Trek Voyager: Cogito Ergo Sum

  • Performances

    Please visit:

    http://www.austincivicorchestra.org

    http://loisferrari.wix.com/maestra-lois-ferrari

    Recent highlights:

    2017 - World Premiere - The Don Juan Project, by Sergio Costola and Jason Hoogerhyde

    2014 - World Premiere - A Quiet Constellation, by Jason Hoogerhyde - Austin Civic Orchestra

    2012 - TX premiere - Variations on a Song by Woody Guthrie, by David Amram - Austin Civic Orchestra

    2011 - sold out concert at the Rollins Theater at the Long Center for the Performing Arts (Austin, TX) - Austin Civic Orchestra

    2010 - sold out concert at the Long Center for the Performing Arts (Austin, TX) - Austin Civic Orchestra

    2010 - world premiere - {{{ The Answers are in the Arches }}}, by Travis Jeffords - Austin Civic Orchestra - winner of the 2009 ACO composition contest

    2009 - world premiere - Lament, by Jason Hoogerhyde - Austin Civic Orchestra - Nominated for 2009 Austin Critics’ Table award for Best Symphonic Performance

    2009 - world premiere - The Color of Dissonance, by Jason Hoogerhyde - SU Orchestra (with Chorale and Music Faculty soloists)

    2009 - world premiere - Fantaisie und Variations uber den Zigeunermarsch aus Weber’s Preziosa, by Felix Mendelssohn and Ignatz Moscheles, edited and recreated by J. Michael Cooper and Jonathan Bellman - Austin Civic Orchestra