Every musician can point to the communities that shaped them.
The ensembles. The teachers. The friends who quietly raised the standard simply by standing beside them in rehearsal. Long before musicians are entrusted with leading others, they are first formed by the people who show them what music can become when it is approached with care, humility, and purpose.
For Josh Lisner, that community was Westminster Choir College.
While attending Bridgewater-Raritan High School under the direction of John Wilson, Lisner found himself returning to Westminster whenever he could. He attended the High School Choral Invitational, participated in the Vocal Institute and Conducting Institute, and even took voice lessons with members of the Voice Faculty.
At first, Westminster represented access to extraordinary musical training.
Eventually, it became something much more meaningful: it became a place where music mattered.
Every conservatory values music, but Westminster possesses something difficult to describe unless one has experience it firsthand. There was an unmistakable sense that what happens inside a rehearsal mattered—not because perfection was the ultimate goal, but because music had the capacity to reveal something deeply human. Rehearsals mattered. Text mattered. Every phrase mattered.
Excellence existed not as an end in itself, but in service of creating performances that could genuinely move another person.
That way of thinking gradually became part of Lisner’s own musical philosophy. It was more than an approach taught in a classroom or rehearsal; it was an ethos woven into the institution itself–a quiet heartbeat shared among generations of Westminster musicians.
Lisner’s years at Westminster were filled with experiences many young musicians dream about. He toured with the Westminster Choir, performed with the Philadelphia Orchestra, sang in Chapel Choir and Westminster Kantorei, and learned alongside classmates and mentors who continually challenged one another simply because they cared about the work. Whether on celebrated stages or in every-day rehearsal rooms, those experiences helped shape both the musician, and the educator, he aspired to become.
His final years at Westminster unfolded during one of the most transitional periods in the college’s history. The COVID-19 pandemic fundamentally altered the undergraduate experience, performances disappeared almost overnight, and several influential faculty members began new chapters of their own. It also marked the end of regularly scheduled classes being taught on Westminster’s Campus in Princeton with classes continuing at Rider after Lisner Graduated.
Even so, gratitude remains the emotion that best defines Lisner’s time there.
Westminster did more than prepare him for a profession. It gave him a vision of the kind of musical community he now hopes to build for others.
That opportunity arrived sooner than expected.
During the spring of 2021, while completing his student teaching at John P. Stevens High School, Lisner learned that Edison High School’s search for a new Director of Choirs and Vocal Music–initially closed following the retirement of longtime director Ken Brow–was likely to be reopened.
Within hours of hearing this, Lisner sent his materials directly to the principal of Edison High School before the post had gone live. Within days he received a phone call asking for an interview just the next day. Following the interview with Mr. Ross, and sharing he would be unavailable to come in the following week for a demonstration lesson, Lisner simply asked whether he could come in the next day.
The answer was yes.
In roughly seventy-two hours, Lisner had submitted his materials, interviewed, taught a rehearsal, and after making a good impression during said lesson, had been formally notified he was recommended for employment pending the district’s formal approval process.
On May 14, 2021, Lisner graduated summa cum laude from Westminster Choir College with a Bachelor of Music in Music Education.
Seven days later, on May 21, he accepted the position of Director of Choirs and Vocal Music at Edison High School.
The two chapters dovetailed together. However, for the first time, Lisner would no longer participate only in musical communities built by extraordinary teachers and mentors of his. He would now begin building one himself.
His vision for the Edison High School Choirs extends beyond concerts, ratings, and performances. While those things matter, they serve something larger. He hopes to build a rehearsal room where students pursue artistic excellence together, where beautiful music is approached with intention, and where young people discover not only stronger musicianship, but connection and a sense of belonging. He hopes students will feel that they can find their voices as individuals but also as people.
While the week of May 14, 2021, unfolded quickly and eventfully, it was in reality the culmination of years of formative moments, both large and small, along the way. It marked the moment when a young musician, shaped by communities that believed music mattered, was given the opportunity to begin building one of his own.
They said: Whom shall we send, and who will go for us?
He replied: Here am I Lord, SEND ME!