Lisa Waite is from Ormond Beach, Florida.  She is currently the assistant principal bassoonist of the Space Coast Symphony, second bassoonist/contrabassoonist with the Florida Lakes Symphony, principal bassoonist with the Daytona Beach Symphony, a founding member of the Orlando-based professional woodwind quintet Opus 5, and executive director of Arts for Humanity, a non-profit corporation dedicated to provide music to the underprivileged.  An active free-lancer, Lisa has performed with the Bach Festival Orchestra of Winter Park, the Brevard Symphony, and the Orlando Philharmonic, as well as with several other groups throughout Central Florida, of which she is a member of Local 389.  When she is not working in the laboratory as a Medical Technologist or pursuing her music endeavors, Lisa enjoys spending time with her husband Jonathan and their four neurotic cats.  In an interesting twist of fate, she will be attending the College of Pharmacy at the University of Florida beginning in the Fall 2010.

What is your favorite aspect about being a musician?  Music therapy is a great way to de-stress from your responsibilities. 

Which composers most inspire you?  Brahms, Saint-Saens, Holst, R. Strauss, Bernstein, and Copland

What is your favorite recording(s)?  The Planets by Holst—recorded by Andre Previn and the Royal Philharmonic in 1986.  WOW!

What piece are you looking forward to most in the SCSO's 2010 - 2011 Season?  Death and Transfiguration—it’s an incredibly emotional tone poem.