As a soloist, and chamber musician Erin Lesser has been described as “superb”, “excellent”, “elegant” (The New York Times), “brilliant” (NY Concert Review) and “a multi-tasking virtuoso” (The New Yorker). She has performed at prestigious venues around the world including Carnegie Hall, Walt Disney Hall, the Muziekgebouw aan ’t IJ (Amsterdam), and the Kennedy Center. She performed the American premiere of Morton Feldman’s For Flute and Orchestra with the Janáček Philharmonic at Alice Tully Hall. As a recording artist, Erin can be heard on over 40 releases on labels including: Nonesuch, Cantaloupe, Carrier, Hat[now] Art, New Focus, Aeon, New Amsterdam, New World, Neuma, Albany and Capstone.
Erin has been a member of Wet Ink Ensemble since 2001. The group was named “the best ensemble of 2018” (NYT), and has been described as “thought-provoking and expansive and fearless in testing the limitations of what instruments or musical forms can be." Erin is also a member of Alarm Will Sound, a group that has been awarded the ASCAP Concert Music Award for “the virtuosity, passion and commitment with which they perform and champion the repertory for the 21st century” and which has been called the “future of classical music”(NYT). A founding member of the Argento Chamber Ensemble, Erin was featured on the group’s award-winning recording Winter Fragments; music of Tristan Murail. She won the 2008 National Flute Association chamber music competition with her flute and percussion duo, Due East.
Lesser completed a two-year fellowship with The Academy (now Ensemble Connect), a program run by Carnegie Hall, the Juilliard School and the Weill Music Institute. She is now a member of Decoda, an affiliate ensemble of Carnegie Hall, whose work often takes them beyond the concert hall and into the broader community.
A graduate of the University of Ottawa (BM) and the Manhattan School of Music (MM, DMA), Erin is proud to serve on the faculty at Lawrence University as Professor of Flute. In 2019, she was awarded the Lawrence University Award for Excellence in Teaching. Erin is co-founder of Music for All, a program which brings music into new and/or underserved venues throughout the Fox Valley community in Wisconsin.
Ms. Lesser is a Pearl Flute Performing Artist.
Ensembles
