About Us
Our Business
Lisa Black and Deborah Netanel met as graduate students at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music in 1999, where they performed in chamber ensembles together. An instant friendship and musical compatibility convinced them to start a business together in which they could continue making music at different venues and occasions. String Celebrations USA was formed in 2001.
Over the years String Celebrations USA has been invited to play for numerous organizations including: Ohio State House, Time Warner Cable, political functions, the Jewish Foundation, Cincinnati Children's Hospital, Cincinnati Dental Society, Literacy Network of Greater Cincinnati, American Cancer Society, UC Clermont Commencement, Mercy Hospital, Hilton Homewood Suites grand opening, The Wellness Center, Cincinnati Art Museum events, Fine Arts Fund concerts (now Arts Wave)
String Celebrations USA has played at hundreds of venues including:
- Alms Park
- Ault Park
- Cincinnati Art Museum
- Cincinnati Nature Center
- Covington Basilica
- Devou Park
- French House
- Greenacres Art Center
- Ivy Hills Country Club
- Krohn Conservatory
- Kumler Chapel
- Manor House
- Museum Center at Union Terminal
- Music Hall
- Norman Chapel
- Paul Brown Stadium
- Plum Street Temple
- St. Francis de Sales Church
- St. Mary's Basilica
- Taft Museum of Art
- The 20th Century Theater
- The Carnegie Event Center
- The Cincinnati Club
- The Hilton Netherland Plaza
- The Madison
- The Madison South
- The Phoenix
- Verdin Bell
- Wiedermann Hill Mansion
Lisa Black - Violist / Violinist
Lisa Black, MM, violist and violinist, holds her Master and Bachelor of Music degrees in viola performance from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music. She has studied viola with Massao Kawasaki, Jerzy Kosmala, Raymond Stillwell, and chamber music with members of the Tokyo String Quartet, LaSalle Quartet, Amarnet String Quartest, Sandra Rivers, and William Grubb.
She makes freelance appearances in the Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra, Kentucky Symphony Orchestra, Richmond Symphony Orchestra, Blue Ash/Montgomery Symphony Orchestra, Clermont Philharmonic Orchestra, Middletown Symphony, and the Hamilton/Fairfield Symphony Orchestra.
Lisa has been a guest chamber artist for performances for the College Music Society and the Musical Arts Center of Cincinnati. She has also been a featured soloist at Cincinnati’s Music Hall. She has performed in Australia, New Zealand, and Portugal.
She has taught viola and violin at Northern Kentucky University Music Preparatory Department since 1998. In addition to teaching private lessons, she is also a conductor. She directs the Northern Kentucky Youth Strings Orchestra and for the NKU Music Prep Summer Strings Camps.
Deborah Netanel - Cellist / Composer / Arranger / Pianist
DEBORAH NETANEL, DMA, cellist, composer, arranger and pianist, holds degrees from the Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University, Rubin Academy of Music (Jerusalem), Hebrew University of Jerusalem and the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music. She is the recipient of many awards and prizes, including the Edith and Irene Ashworth Prize, several ASCAP Plus awards and an award for artistic excellence from the Israeli government. DR NETANEL has studied cello with Yehuda Hanani, Shmuel Magen and Aldo Parisot, chamber music with members of the Tokyo String Quartet, Peter Frankl, Nobuko Imai and Ralph Kirshbaum and composition with some of the foremost composers of our time including Darrell Handel, Joel Hoffman, Augusta Reed Thomas, George Crumb, George Rochberg, Tzvi Avni, Yehudi Wyner, Samuel Adler and Steve Reich.
A member of ASCAP, the American Music Center, the College Music Society and the Pacific Contemporary Music Center, DR NETANEL’s compositions include Three Songs of Modern Life for voice and piano, Beginnings for voice and harp, Amidst the Pines for clarinet and piano, Unspoken Longing for violin and cello and Footsteps, a chamber work for violin, clarinet, marimba and reciter that uses original text. NETANEL’s works have been performed throughout the United States and internationally, including a recent performance in London at Wigmore Hall (January, 2002). In March 2000, Shma Koleinu for violin, cello and reciters was featured in a concert in London; in June 2000, NETANEL’s piano trio Sounds of an Ancient City was featured at MUSIC 2000, a festival of new music in Ohio and her clarinet/piano duos have been chosen for recording by Jerusalem National Radio. In July, 2002, Dr. Netanel was a guest composer at the Oregon Bach Festival Composers’ Symposium where her chamber music was featured in performances by Third Angle, a Portland based New Music ensemble. Deborah Netanel was also the featured composer of the ARTBEAT of ISRAEL Festival Concert held in Cincinnati in November, 2002.
