bio
The artistry of violinist Liana Bérubé is inextricably intertwined with self-knowledge and self-compassion. Her “free and expressive style” (San Francisco Classical Voice), described as “searching mastery” (Charleston Gazette-Mail), has been heard in North America, Europe, Asia, and Australia. She was co-founder and for 13 years 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 Eureka Symphony, the San Jose Chamber Orchestra, and the San Francisco Chamber Orchestra. She has been broadcast on NPR, CBC, VH1, WFMT Chicago, and Dutch Radio 4, and has collaborated with artists such as Emanuel Ax, Anthony Marwood, Elizabeth Blumenstock, the Alexander String Quartet, Tanya Tomkins, Eric Zivian, and Jennifer Frautschi. Concert appearances include the Moab Music Festival, 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. Liana was part of the band for Pop Up Magazine (a live podcast show), and has been part of the Hamilton national tour.
Much of Liana’s artistic approach stems from listening to the innate knowledge that grows from mindful presence. She has twice completed the Camino de Santiago, an 800km pilgrimage route across Spain; these journeys crystallized her strong convictions about the importance of helping others to grow and sustain themselves through music education and performance. Her meditative practice is a core component of her teaching philosophy, in which she emphasizes mindfulness, self-compassion, self-awareness, and openness in both her students and herself. She is an enthusiastic educator and has held positions at Sonoma State University and the Crowden Center for Music in the Community. She is currently on faculty at St. Mary’s College of California and maintains a private teaching studio in Redwood City, California.
Based in the San Francisco Bay Area, Liana Bérubé holds degrees from the University of Toronto (B.Mus. Performance) and the San Francisco Conservatory of Music (M.Mus. Strings and Piano Chamber Music). 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. Liana is concertmaster of the San Jose Chamber Orchestra and a member of the Left Coast Chamber Ensemble. When not playing the violin or thinking about art in general, Liana is an enthusiastic cook and hiker who loves annoying her two sassy cats.
Photographer: Jiyang Chen