Lisa Albrecht is a native of Upstate New York and currently serves as Second Trombone with the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra and Principal Trombone of Opera Saratoga. She previously held positions in the Minnesota Orchestra and the Honolulu Symphony. Albrecht is a graduate of the Eastman School of Music where she studied with John Marcellus and was awarded the Emory Remington Scholarship and the Performer’s Certificate. Her other influential teachers include Alan Bomwell, George Osborn, James Desano, and Arnold Jacobs. In 1986 she joined the San Antonio Symphony and embarked on an orchestral career. She has subsequently performed with orchestras across the US, Europe, and Asia, including the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Milwaukee Symphony, Detroit Symphony, St. Louis Orchestra, Metropolitan Opera, Santa Fe Opera, Glimmerglass Opera, Seattle Symphony, American Symphony, Mostly Mozart Festival Orchestra, Luzerne Festival Orchestra, St. Petersburg Orchestra, London Sinfonietta, Czech Symphony Orchestra, and the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen. During their 152nd season, she was appointed Assistant Principal Trombonist with the New York Philharmonic and became the first woman to serve in the orchestra’s brass section. Based in New York as a freelance artist for 15 years, she performed regularly at Lincoln Center and on Broadway. She has recorded with several orchestras, chamber ensembles, for television, radio, and film. Ms. Albrecht has also enjoyed collaborations with the Martha Graham, Mark Morris, and Eric Hawkins dance companies.
Her chamber music affiliations range from traditional ensembles such as the esteemed Summit Brass, Burning River Brass, and Excelsior Trombone Ensemble to the eclectic style of Proteus 7. She was a member of the early music brass ensemble Spiritus Collective and has also performed on period instruments with New York Early Music, The New York Collegium, and at the Rochester Early Music Festival. In 2012 she founded the Hohenfels Trombone Quartet. The group’s subsequent tour to Germany and Austria hatched their ever-popular incarnation, Oktoberbones - which continues to charm audiences through their festive Volkmusik appearances.
A frequent recitalist and clinician, she has appeared as a soloist at the International Trombone Festival, Eastern Trombone Workshop, the New York Brass Conference, the Lieksa Brass Week (Finland), and the Eastman Summer Trombone Institute.
Her commercial credits span from jazz and rock to pop and country, including performances with such legendary performers as Sarah Vaughan, Mel Torme, Tony Bennett, Rosemary Clooney, Barbara Cook, Shirley Jones, Ray Charles, Jack Jones, Joni Mitchell, Cassandra Wilson, Ann Hampton Calloway, Maureen McGovern, The Manhattan Transfer, Wynton Marsalis, Bobby McFerrin, The Moody Blues, Elvis Costello, Seal, Antony and the Johnsons, Gladys Knight, The Temptations, Barry Manilow, Henry Mancini, Burt Bacharach, Judy Collins, Dionne Warwick, Emmylou Harris, Michael Martin Murphy, Bernadette Peters, Julie Andrews, Ute Lemper, Chita Rivera, Nathan Lane, Audra MacDonald, Sarah McLachlan, and Eartha Kitt.
While in New York, she performed in the Broadway productions of Candide, 1776, Swan Lake, The Sound of Music, Saturday Night Fever, Kiss Me Kate, The Sweet Smell of Success, Gypsy, The Lion King, The Music Man, Hairspray, Urinetown, Nine, Fiddler on the Roof, The Three Penny Opera, Mary Poppins, A Chorus Line and Spamalot.
Ms. Albrecht has taught on the faculty of the Eastman School of Music, the Juilliard School (Pre-College Division), Incarnate Word College, and the University of Texas at San Antonio. She currently maintains a private studio.
Her solo album, Sound & Resound, features works for trombone and organ and is a collaboration with organist Amanda R. Mole and the Hohenfels Trombone Quartet.
An avid hiker and climber, she may be found in high places from the Andes to the Alps and the Adirondacks. She is a licensed wilderness guide and an Adirondack 46er.