Biography

Dr. Lisa Bost-Sandberg is a flutist, composer, and improviser deeply committed to contemporary music as well as its rich roots in the classical repertoire. In demand as a soloist and chamber musician, she has performed throughout the United States and Europe, including National Flute Association conventions, new music festivals (SEAMUS, EMM, Pixilerations, Spark, and SCI), and guest appearances at universities. She performs as principal flute of the Greater Grand Forks Symphony Orchestra, is a founding member of the InterSpheres Trio which toured Hungary in 2014, and has recorded on the Albany, GIA, and North Texas Jazz labels. Recent engagements include serving as the upper division adjudicator and featured guest recitalist for the 2020 Seattle Flute Society Horsfall Competition, performing Mozart’s Concerto in G Major with the Greater Grand Forks Symphony Orchestra, and a 20th/21st-century solo tour program titled “Fire and Flight.”

A dynamic and impactful teacher, Bost-Sandberg has taught masterclasses, presented lecture-recitals, and led workshops at numerous institutions and festivals. She is the Instructor of Flute at the University of North Dakota and teaches at the International Music Camp. She has also served on the faculties of the University of Mary, the University of North Texas, the University of Texas at Dallas, Clarke College, and the Great Neck Arts Center.

Her compositions have been selected for performance at conferences of the American Trombone Workshop, World Saxophone Congress, North American Saxophone Alliance, National Flute Association, Society of Composers, and Iowa Composers Forum. A recent project, titled Chroma, is a series of eight movements of diverse instrumentations paired with paintings by artist and commissioner Marjorie Schlossman. Premiered at the Plains Art Museum in Fargo, North Dakota, the collaboration with Schlossman is the subject of a short film by Mary Trunk and Caren McCaleb.

Currently serving the National Flute Association as a member of the Board of Directors and a member of the Archives and Oral History Committee, she recently completed a term as chair of the New Music Advisory Committee. She also serves on the Board of the Schmitt Music Flute Gallery and as an Associate Member of the International Music Camp Corporation.

A Montana native, Bost-Sandberg received her Doctor of Musical Arts degree in flute performance with a related field in composition from the University of North Texas as a recipient of the prestigious Masters and Doctoral Fellowship. She is also a graduate of New York University (Master of Arts) and The University of Iowa (Bachelor of Music). Her primary flute instructors include Terri Sundberg, Elizabeth McNutt, Robert Dick, Tadeu Coelho, and Tamara Thweatt. Bost-Sandberg’s primary composition instructors include Andrew May, Christopher Trebue Moore, Robert Dick, and Lawrence Fritts. She studied the Alexander Technique with Käthe Jarka of New York City and Pedro de Alcantara of Paris, France. 

"Lisa Bost-Sandberg is one of the important composer-performers of her generation…[her] interpretations are infused with deep musicality, questing intelligence and a joyous spirit." - Robert Dick