Solo and Chamber CD Reviews

Crystal 713

"Another leading wind soloist takes flight - or in Crystal’s rubric takes wing – in a recital of contemporary American music. Lois Bliss Herbine is flautist with Orchestra 2001 and is clearly a committed exponent of such music, having commissioned and performed it with a number of ensembles and in a wide variety of media. She ’s joined by some able colleagues in a programme that is entertaining and wide ranging."
-MusicWeb International Record Review by Jonathan Woolf, December, 2004 Click here to read the entire Music Web review.

"Lois Bliss Herbine seems to be saying in each piece, 'Listen to me prove what the piccolo, and this composer, can do!' During the course of this beguiling recital, you will encounter composers with impressively eclectic credentials... Not the least part of this disc's success is the outstanding quality of the artists"
- Gramophone Review sub-titled "A high-flying recital which shows that the piccolo can do more than tootle" by Laurence Vittes, January, 2005
Click here to read the entire Gramophone review.

"Dedicated to the memory of her teacher, John Krell, this 59-minute C.D. is a testament to his teaching and Herbine's command of the instrument... Herbine makes the piccolo sing, enchant, and mesmerize throughout this recording, which includes several premiere offerings. Tight ensemble playing, excellent intonation, and"
- Flute Talk Magazine Record Review, January, 2005
The completion of this Flute Talk review in the March edition.

"An ambitious project presenting the first recordings of a number solo and chamber works for piccolo, this is a generous helping of interesting and varied works for an instrument that has a growing repertory due to the outstanding and tireless work of enthusiastic and talented piccoloists, such as Herbine...Throughout this recording, she plays with a very sweet and singing sound which both blends and contrasts well with her colleagues."
- Flute Network Recommends by Jerrold E. Pritchard, February, 2005
Click here to read the entire Flute Network review.

"One of my favorite CDs, great player, excellent repertoire, several premiere recordings on this disc, a MUST for every piccolo library. The Dorff and Daugherty are especially well-played."
- "Piccolo Picks" by Dr. Christine E. Beard, Flute Professor, U of Neb/Omaha; Roy Seaman Piccolo Artist and host of Piccolo HQ.com

"Let's face it: an entire disc of piccolo music isn't as likely to make a splash as a prominent maestro's new Mahler symphony recording or a piano recital from the latest wunderkind. But if you're game for something off the beaten track, Lois Bliss Herbine will provide an engaing hour with her exceptionally well-played program... Her technique and intonation are flawless, and her tone lacks any breathiness or sense of strain even up high, a challange with her instrument."
- Philadelphia Music Makers CD review by Andrew Quint, Spring, 2007

DTR 6050

"The other discs are most notable for their individual participants. The Kennedy Center's is masterminded by pianist Lambert Orkis, whose restless intelligence always commands attention... Among clarinetists, the Philadelphia Orchestra's Ricardo Morales (heard with the excellent Wister Quartet) is in a class by himself... the piccolo and harp contributions by Lois Bliss Herbine and Sophie Bruno Labiner are models of color-driven expression."
- David Patrick Stearns, Philadelphia Inquirer, record review, Sunday, May 3, 2009 (3.5 out of 4 stars)

"There's not a musician appearing on this program who isn't operating at the highest level, but the stars of the show are the two woodwind players" (Ricardo Morales and Lois Herbine)... Lois Bliss Herbine's piccolo is a second vocal participant, intertwining her song-like lines around the soprano's. Herbine produces a full and richly colored tone on her tiny instrument that, in lesser hands, can become wearyingly fife-like. A lighter-than-air Saltarello movement for piccolo and harp alone gives center stage to Herbine's virtuosity as she effortlessly shifts between passages of flutter- tonguing and regular articulation in the course of the movement. "
- Philadelphia Music Makers CD review by Andrew Quint, fall, 2009

"All of the performers here are first-rate; the live performances are highly satisfying... Perhaps the most intriguing work on the program is Illuminations, a song cycle for soprano, piccolo and harp (2001) by Stephen Mager. The music combines medieval forms, rhythms, and melodic formulas with pleasantly modern harmonies, including polytonality. The three performers demonstrate loving and confident commitment to the score in this alluring performance."
- The American Organist, November 1, 2009

Solo Performance Reviews

"The concert on Sunday, July 26, was sold-out, and even ominous weather predictions couldn't keep people away. Scheible called upon Lois Herbine and her piccolo to give a proper divertissement. She was impressive playing "Salterello," by long ago Music Pier orchestra conductor Joseph La Monaca..."
- Ed Wismer, Ocean City Pop's 'Three Tenors' continues tradition of outstanding music, Ocean City Sentinel, July 30, 2009

"In the Piccolo and other Headliners concert on Saturday afternoon Herbine performed Fantasy by the late Willard Elliot, former principal bassoon of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. This eight-minute, one-movement work for piccolo and piano primarily uses the low and middle registers and has the feel of a dreamscape. The soaring runs and quick flourishes contrast with the melody and the final angry, articulated section."
- Diane Boyd Schultz, Flute Talk Magazine, "2003 Convention Highlights", August, 2003

Visit the Testimonials page for recent solo reviews

Flute and piccolo with Orchestra 2001

"Some of the most revelatory Mahler performances these days are coming from outside the usual Vienna-Amsterdam-New York Philharmonic loop... Without the Vienna Philharmonic's sheen, Mahler's sunniest symphony was more transparent, less monumental and more eventful...in the third movement (the symphony's emotional center of gravity) the interpretation opened up deeper, expressive worlds, providing a clear, emotional bridge to the final movement's ascension to heaven." - David Patrick Stearns, The Philadelphia Inquirer

"Orchestra 2001 demonstrated what rich worlds a few instrumentalists can evoke.... How extraordinary to hear music emerge and evolve so expansively" - Daniel Webster, The Philadelphia Inquirer

".... dramatic music that soars into lyrical melodies, filled with allusive atmosphere and rich emotional textures"
- Opera News

"Astonishing array of sounds from a small orchestra... about the world of full color"
- Peter Dobrin, The Philadelphia Inquirer

"... conveys so particular and gripping a sound world one is hardly aware of the time passing"
- Lesley Valdes, The Philadelphia Inquirer

"...The thematic ideas are clear, potent and evocative, and their evolution has the excitement of inevitability." - Daniel Webster, The Philadelphia Inquirer

Click here to read complete reviews with Orchestra 2001

Comments

"Lois is a great player"
- Brian Levine, President of Dorian Records

"She continues the performance excellence of the Great Philadelphians"
- Leonard Garrison moderator, introduction to the National Flute Association's Piccolo Panel discussion

"Your piccolo is ethereal"
- Hollywood conductor William T. Stromberg conducting the back-up orchestra for the YES world tour.

"The flute solo is fantastic"
- Academy Award winning composer Tan Dun (regarding the flute solo in his Concerto for Pizzicato Piano and Ten Instruments with piano soloist Margaret Leng Tan)

"(Your CD) sounds great and your playing is fabulous!"
- American "pop culture" composer Michael Daugherty

"Your recording is EXCELLENT! Good music, extremely fine piccolo playing, and good recording quality. Congratulations. It will be good to get it out."
- Peter Christ, President of Crystal Records

"We've never heard a piccoloist play with so much contrast, both dynamic and tonal"
- The National Symphony Orchestra audition committee

"That's wonderful piccolo playing"
- Vincent Persichetti conducting Persichetti's 7th Symphony

"Any conductor would love having her in his orchestra"
- Donald Peck, Principal flute emeritus, Chicago Symphony Orchestra

Updated on 2/26/2010