The Lirica Chamber Ensemble was started by Zachary Scanlan and Nicole Parks during the summer of 2009. Having just graduated from St. Olaf College, they were looking for a way to continue making high quality music with people they enjoyed. They gathered together friends from their old schools, St. Olaf and Blaine High School, along with several other people they knew, to form a small string chamber orchestra. Nicole would act as artistic director and conductor, while Zachary would take care of managerial duties.

The result was the Lirica Chamber Ensemble. We are now in our second season with Emily Pflaum serving as artistic director. Part of our mission is to perform lesser known pieces in the string orchestra repertoire, and our programs reflect that. Additionally, we play new music composed by young composers from around the country.