bio
The artistry of violinist Liana Bérubé is inextricably intertwined with self-knowledge and self-compassion. Her openly expressive aesthetic, described as “searching mastery” (Charleston Gazette-Mail), has been heard in North America, Europe, Asia, and Australia. She is co-founder and violinist of the Delphi Trio. Concerto performances include appearances with Thirteen Strings Chamber Orchestra, Sinfonia Toronto, Bear Valley Music Festival Orchestra, the Oakland Symphony, the San Jose Chamber Orchestra, and the San Francisco Chamber Orchestra. She has been heard on NPR, CBC, VH1, WFMT Chicago, and Dutch Radio 4, and has collaborated with artists such as Anthony Marwood, Elizabeth Blumenstock, the Alexander String Quartet, Tanya Tomkins, Eric Zivian, and Jennifer Frautschi. Concert appearances include Chamber Music Concerts Ashland, Great Lakes Chamber Music Festival, Orlando Festival, Artist Series of Sarasota, Kronos Festival, Morrison Artist Series, Harry Jacobs Chamber Music Society, Valley of the Moon Music Festival, the Verbier Festival, and the Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival, among others.
Liana has a passion for unusual and challenging projects that has led her in many strange and nontraditional directions. She is concertmaster of the Magik*Magik Orchestra in San Francisco, with whom she frequently records and appears live. She has recorded on two GRAMMY-nominated albums, has played in concert with Stevie Wonder, Barry Manilow, Sting, Death Cab for Cutie, Chicago, and others, and performed at the 2015 TED conference. She was concertmaster for the premiere screening of the reconstruction of Abel Gance’s 1927 landmark film, Napoleon, which drew international audiences from the film community, and she is often part of the band for Pop Up Magazine, a live podcast show.
Liana strongly believes in listening to deeper currents, intuition, subconscious, and instinct, with the goal of following the innate knowledge of one’s personal truth. She is the founder and curator of the Practice Project, a social media community dedicated to encouraging a culture of openness, honesty, and vulnerability within the classical music and wider artistic communities. Liana also brings her intuitive approach into performance, trying to understand a composer’s intent and meaning within and beyond the markings on the page. This fascination has led her to early historical recordings and late 19th century performance practice, where one often hears composers or friends of composers playing music from the now-standard repertoire. Liana is intrigued by the role of performer as composer - or composer as performer - and occasionally fills both roles herself.
Based in the San Francisco Bay Area, Liana Bérubé studied at the University of Toronto and in the San Francisco Conservatory of Music’s Chamber Music Master’s degree program. Her principal teachers have included David Zafer, Lise Elson, Axel Strauss, and Annalee Patipatanakoon, and she has been mentored and substantially influenced by Mark Sokol and Henk Guittart. She is currently acting concertmaster of the San Jose Chamber Orchestra. When not playing the violin or thinking about art in general, Liana is an enthusiastic cook who loves food and annoying her two sassy cats.
Photographer: Jiyang Chen