Lois Herbine has 24 years experience performing piccolo with the Reading Symphony Orchestra and over 25 years of freelancing activities in Philadelphia

INCLUDing PERFORMANCES WITH EACH OF THE FOLLOWING orchestras

The American Pops Orchestra
The Atlantic Symphony Orchestra
The Concerto Soloists of Philadelphia
The Davidsbund Chamber Players
The Delaware Symphony Orchestra
Fairmount Strings Chamber Orchestra
Festive Arts Orchestra
Hollybush Festival Orchestra
International Gilbert and Sullivan Festival
Jubilate Deo Chorale and Orchestra
June Opera Festival of Lawrenceville
Kennett Symphony Orchestra
Lancaster Symphony Orchestra
Lehigh Valley Chamber Orchestra
The Mann Festival Orchestra
NFL Films
Ocean City Pops Orchestra
The Opera Company of Philadelphia
Opera North
Orchestra 2001
The Pennsylvania Ballet
The Pennsylvania Philharmonic    
Pennsylvania Pro Musica
The Performance Organization   
Peter Nero's Philly Pops
Philadelphia Classical Symphony                     
The Pottstown Symphony Orchestra
Promenade Orchestra
The Savoy Company of Philadelphia
Sunoco Sweet Sounds of Liberty Concerts
The Strauss Symphony of America
Valley Forge Music Center shows
West Jersey Chamber Symphony 

The Zelda Orchestra

"Stravinsky's music from the 'Firebird' was a showcase for the RSO woodwinds and percussion, and Constantine led one more high-energy, colorful performance of a work that still sounds as fresh as the day it was created.

Kudos to Lois Herbine for a very bird-like piccolo solo..."   - review by Susan L. Pena of the Reading Eagle, January 31, 2016

“She (Herbine) would play the piccolo in the symphony orchestra of my dreams” - Reading Symphony Orchestra conductor, Sidney Rothstein (1976-2006)

In Sierra's Cancionero Sefardi, (soprano Jody Karin Applebaum) sang against microtonal instrumental lines, illuminating the cross-references of Latin tradition and the ancient Jewish song style. The ensemble of flute, piano, clarinet, violin and cello built clouds of sound. Against those undulating tones, Applebaum revealed humor, sensuality and playfulness." 
"Orchestra 2001 'Latin Masterpieces' Concert" 
- Daniel Webster, The Philadelphia Inquirer

Read reviews with Orchestra 2001

From eighteen years worth of experience with the new music ensemble Orchestra 2001, Lois Bliss Herbine has worked closely with 20th and 21st Century composers such as Tan Dun, Gunther Schuller, George Rochberg, Peter Schickele and Andrea Clearfield. As Herbine's performances on solo flute and piccolo are known for their colorful expression (as are those of her colleagues pianist Charles Abramovic, harpist Sophie Bruno, flutist Pamela Guidetti, and cellist Lori Barnett) these details are evident in the reviews Orchestra 2001 reviews. Her piccolo, flute, alto flute and bass flute can be heard in six commercial recordings with Orchestra 2001 on the New World Records, Innova Recordings and Albany record labels. 

Music of Our Time Vol. 4 (piccolo, D. Crumb's Variations) "Chant des Rochers", CRI, 2000

"Crumb's 1993 Variations for Cello and Chamber Ensemble is the major prize on the disc... how can you argue with its intoxicating range of instrumental color?" 
- Philadelphia Inquirer's David Patrick Stearns, record review (3 out of 4 stars)

"The indefatigables, the first-class musicians that comprise Orchestra 2001 are at it again. Make no mistake, whatever the quality of the pieces involved, this is a tribute to the splendid abilities of all the performers participating. This disc amply demonstrates the thesis that some of the world's finest composers and one of the world's finest performing ensembles are all alive and well in Philadelphia. Nobody does it better than Orchestra 2001." - Harry Hewitt, Penn Sounds

"At a time when a performance of a new orchestral work has become a rare event, and when we are less and less surprised to hear such music performed poorly by one of the giants of the industry, there are fewer and fewer orchestras truly dedicated exclusively to this music. Fortunately, among those few there is Orchestra 2001. Based in Philadelphia; this ensemble is showing those giants how it's done. Its dedication to the performance of new music is not only admirable, but also vital to the defining and preserving of the music of our time." 
- Laurie Hudicek, "A Rock Solid Entity", New Music Connoisseur, Vol. 9, no. 4

"Any conductor would love having her (Herbine) in his orchestra- she would make him look good” - Donald Peck, Principal flute emeritus, Chicago Symphony Orchestra

Reading Symphony concert review sample

Piccolo on Elgar’s Wand of Youth Suite No. 1 and Tchaikovsky’s 4th Symphony

“RSO event is a concert for the ages”

“The ensemble triumphs with a combination of youth and experience”

- Susan Pena, The Reading Eagle, March 16, 1999

The Reading Symphony Orchestra celebrated youth throughout the first half of its subscription concert Saturday night in the Rajah Theatre, following up with a knockout performance of Tchaikovsky’s Fourth Symphony.

…Edward Elgar’s immensely appealing Wand of Youth” Suite No. 1…The (suite) performed Saturday night showcased the RSO’s woodwinds especially, in brief, colorful pieces that evoked a pastoral, magical innocence. The Overture contained quick, mercurial mood changes, melting from bouncy lightheartedness to lush introspection and back… the final “Fairies and Giants” had the lower strings and the lower brass playing big chords like huge footsteps with piccolo and upper strings whipping saucily around the giant’s legs.

In stark contrast to the light moods of the first half was Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 4 in F minor… The RSO last performed this work in 1989, and while that reading was by no means unimpressive, it is perhaps a mark of the orchestra’s maturation over the past ten years that in Saturday’s rendition the players and Rothstien achieved a new level of artistry.

Not only was the playing clear and secure and beautifully in tune – that we have come to expect – but this was the kind of performance that kept the listener on the edge of his seat, as if hearing the piece for the first time… The Scherzo was hushed, precise and suave; and the finale, startling in the opening line, had plenty of snap.

This was a major-orchestra performance by a regional orchestra – quite an achievement for Reading.