Professor Lisa Redpath's Wonderful World of Music

By Erin Kelly

EASTON: Nothing would stand in the way of Professor Lisa Redpath and her desire to play the French horn.

So when her mother made her play the flute, Redpath knew she had to do something. “My mother told me, ‘You’re going to play the flute like all of the other little girls,’” she said.
Redpath disagreed.

At 15 years old, Redpath took action. “I shouldn’t be telling you this. It’s bad,” she said. She swiped an extra French horn from her high school band room. “I took it, put it in my blue Chevy, brought it to my house, and taught myself how to play,” she said, while smiling and laughing to herself.

Eventually, Redpath’s secret was discovered, and she had to give the instrument back. “I think my band instructor was a little mad and confused when I sat in the French horn section instead of the flute section,” she said.

But she was a natural from the start and began playing professionally within two years.

Redpath, now 49, is a full-time professor at Stonehill College in Easton, Mass. She teaches six music courses and conducts the concert band and chamber orchestra. She has a Bachelor’s degree in Music Education from Edinboro College in Penn., as well as a Masters degree from Simmons College in Mass., and Boston University. She is currently finishing up her Doctorate at Boston University.

Redpath grew up in Pittsburgh and moved to Boston in 1984. It was there that she realized teaching music was what she wanted to do. Performing is so fun, she said, but “I have always thought of myself as a teacher first, then a performer.”

Redpath taught everywhere, from public schools to music studios, but found her home at Stonehill four years ago. This year marks her first year of being a full-time professor, and Redpath couldn’t be more excited.

“I love being here,” she said.

Teaching full-time means less time performing, but Redpath sees all of the opportunities teaching gives her. “I want to make more of an impact on music education,” she said. “I want to help those musicians who are training to go to the next level.”

She wants to help them so much that in 2002 Redpath converted part of her home in Sharon, Mass., into her own music studio- Vive La Musique! Here French horn students come to fine tune their skills and reach the next level of playing, she said.

Music plays an important part in the entire Redpath family. Her husband, whose parents played in vaudeville, is a composer of classical and chamber music. Redpath also has a 16-year-old son and a 14-year-old daughter who play instruments as well. “We are very involved with music,”
Redpath said. “Music…it just is.”

The future holds no limits for Redpath. Her first goal is to finish her doctorate, but she has one other desire.

“I really want to play the viola,” she said. “I think this time I won’t have as much trouble getting a hold of this instrument!”