My guest this week is violinist, Liana Branscome! Liana is the first prize winner of the Artist Series Concerts of Sarasota Competition Junior Division (2015), Boca Raton Symphonia Concerto Competition (2014), the Ars Flores Symphony Orchestra Concerto Competition (2014) and second prize winner of the New World Symphony Young Artist Competition (2014). She has appeared as soloist with the Vidin Philharmonia in Bulgaria, Palm Beach Atlantic Symphony, the Ars Flores Symphony Orchestra and the Treasure Coast Youth Symphony. She has also performed as guest artist at the Newport Music Festival in Rhode Island and the Auras Nunes Aula de Cámara in Santiago, Spain. Recent engagements include a recital tour of Portugal, Spain and London with pianist Bernardo Santos and a tour of South Florida with pianist Lewis Warren Jr.
Liana is pursuing her Master of Music in violin performance at the University of Southern California’s Thornton School of Music where she studies under Glenn Dicterow. She received her Bachelor of Music at the New England Conservatory under the instruction of Paul Biss and Lucy Chapman. Her precollege teachers include David and Linda Cerone. She has attended the Heifetz International Music Institute, the Sarasota Music Festival, and the Chautauqua Institute. Liana served as a Fellow in NEC’s Community Performances and Partnerships Program where she presented numerous solo and duo recitals in the Boston community. Liana is currently a teaching assistant at the University of Southern California in non-major violin and has presented several masterclasses and recitals at schools around South Florida. Liana is currently part of the administrative team of Project Build: Peer Masterclass Series, an organization that seeks to create a space in which young professional musicians can learn from and connect with each other.
While at the New England Conservatory, Liana also received a minor in creative writing and served as an editor of New England Conservatory’s academic journal Hear, Here! and student newspaper, The Penguin.