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Biography

Hailed by Opus Magazine as “a stunning musician”, violinist Livia Sohn performs widely on the international stage as concerto soloist, recitalist, and festival guest in Europe, North America, South America, Asia, Africa and New Zealand. Strad magazine says,

Livia Sohn possesses a remarkably lithe and transparent tone of exceptional purity. [Her] virtually blemishless accounts.are nothing short of remarkable. Even when under the most fearsome technical pressure at high velocity, every note rings true with pinpoint accuracy.

Following a season where Livia performed as soloist with the Hungarian Radio Orchestra in Budapest, and the San Bernardino Symphony in California, as well as recitals in Tokyo, Chicago, and Toronto, highlights from the 2011-12 season include Livia as a guest artist at the Cartagena International Music Festival in Colombia, the Spoleto USA Festival (SC), Bay Chamber Concerts (Maine), and The Broad Stage (CA), in repertoire ranging from Tchaikovsky Concerto to music written by living composers. This season will also see Livia featured in the CD release of Benjamin Britten’s Violin Concerto, paired with the concerto “Jiyeh” by Israeli-American composer Jonathan Berger (written for and premiered by Livia in 2007), on the label Gramercy Classics.

Livia has been a guest soloist in North America with the symphony orchestras of Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Seattle, Milwaukee, Edmonton, Rochester, Austin, Phoenix, San Antonio, Oregon, Dayton, Winston-Salem, Hartford, Cheyenne, Green Bay, Boca Raton, Louisville, I Musici de Montreal, Aspen Festival Orchestra, New York Chamber Symphony, Boston Pops, and Brooklyn Philharmonic, among others. She has performed with many eminent conductors, including Yehudi Menuhin, Jesus Lopez-Cobos, James DePreist, Gerard Schwarz, Myung-Whun Chung, William Eddins, Grant Llewellyn, Lukas Foss, Jane Glover, Junichi Hirokami, Murry Sidlin, and Jorge Mester.

Internationally, she has performed as soloist with the Budapest Philharmonic, Cologne Philharmonic, Iceland Symphony Orchestra, Mexico City Philharmonic Orchestra, Orchestra del Teatro Marrucino di Chieti in Italy, Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra, Czech National Symphony Orchestra, Limburgs Sinfonie Orkest in Holland, The City of London Sinfonia, Asia Philharmonic Orchestra, Korea’s Seoul and Pusan Philharmonics, and the Wuhan Philharmonic in China. She performed a multi-city tour with South Africa’s National Symphony and KwaZulu-Natal Philharmonic Orchestras and has performed solo recitals in Spain, Mexico, Cyprus, Israel, and Japan.

An avid chamber musician, Livia has been a guest artist at festivals such as the Kuhmo Chamber Music Festival in Finland, Cartagena International Music Festival in Colombia, Spoleto Festival USA, Aspen Music Festival, Caramoor International Music Festival, Edmonton Chamber Music Society, Newport Music Festival, Bay Chamber Concerts, Maverick Concerts, Brevard Festival, Chamber Music Society of Sonoma, Sewanee Summer Music Festival, Pender Harbour Music Festival, Prince Albert Music Festival in Hawaii, Festival of the Sound in Canada, and Festival de San Miguel de Allende in Mexico.

Livia has appeared in recital at New York City’s Mostly Mozart Festival, Chicago’s Ravinia Festival, Washington D.C.’s National Gallery of Art, Stanford University’s Lively Arts series, Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum and Jordan Hall in Boston, Dame Myra Hess series in Chicago, Gwinnett Performing Arts Center in Atlanta, Xavier University in Cincinnati, University of Connecticut, Peace Center for the Performing Arts in South Carolina, and the Bing Theatre and the Alfred Newman Recital Hall in Los Angeles.

In 1999, National Public Radio’s “Performance Today” hosted Livia as an Artist-in-Residence for five days, during which she gave live interviews and performances of a different program each day. Other career highlights include performing at the inaugural concerts of Harris Hall at Aspen, and her performance with Lukas Foss and the Brooklyn Philharmonic Orchestra at the “11th Annual New Year’s Eve Concert for Peace”, held at New York City’s Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine before an audience of 10,000.

In 2007 Naxos released the disc “Opera Fantasies”, which features Livia and pianist Benjamin Loeb playing opera arrangements and includes three world premiere transcriptions. Livia can also be heard on iTunes performing the Dvorak and Khachaturian Concertos in a live recording with the Budapest Philharmonic Orchestra, and on Naxos’ American Classics series in a CD entitled “Miracles and Mud”, featuring works by Jonathan Berger.

Livia gave her first public performance at age eight. In 1989, at the age of 13, she won First Prize in the Yehudi Menuhin International Violin Competition, where she was also awarded the Audience Prize. She attended the Juilliard Pre-College Division from the age of seven, at which time she began her studies with Dorothy DeLay and Hyo Kang. She continued under their tutelage at the Juilliard School, where she also studied chamber music with the legendary Felix Galamir.

Livia plays on a J. B. Guadagnini violin crafted in 1770 and a Samuel Zygmuntowicz made in 2006. She has been on faculty at the Music Department of Stanford University since 2005.

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Repertoire

BACH
Concerto #1 in a, BWV 1041
Concerto #2 in E, BWV 1042

BARBER Concerto, Op.14

BARTOK Concerto #2 (1938)

BEETHOVEN
Concerto in D, Op.61
Concerto in C, Op.56 ("Triple")
Romance #1 in G, Op.40
Romance #2 in F, Op.50

BERG Concerto (1935)

BRAHMS
Concerto in D, Op. 77
Concerto in a for Violin & Cello, Op.102

BRUCH
Concerto #1 in g, Op.26
Scottish Fantasy, Op.46

CHAUSSON Poème, Op. 25

DVORAK
Concerto in a, Op.53
Romance in f, Op. 11

ELGAR Concerto in b, Op. 61

GLAZUNOV Concerto in a, Op.82

HAYDN Concerto #1 in C

KHACHATURIAN Concerto in d (1940)

KORNGOLD Concerto in D, Op.35 (1946)

LALO Symphonie espagnole, Op.21

MENDELSSOHN Concerto in e, Op.64

MOZART
Concerto #2 in D, K.211
Concerto #3 in G, K.216
Concerto #4 in D, K.218
Concerto #5 in A, K.219
Rondo in C, K.373

PAGANINI
Concerto #1 in D, Op.6
Concerto #2 in b, Op.7

PROKOFIEV
Concerto #1 in D, Op.19
Concerto #2 in g, Op.63

RAVEL Tzigane (1924)

ROZSA Concerto, Op.24 (1956)

SAINT-SAENS
Concerto #1 in A, Op. 20
Concerto #3 in b, Op.61
Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso, Op. 28
Havanaise, Op. 83

SARASATE
Carmen Fantasy, Op. 25
Zigeunerweisen, Op.20/1

SCHUMANN Concerto in d, Wo0 23

SHOSTAKOVICH Concerto #1 in a, Op.77

SIBELIUS Concerto in d, Op.47

STRAVINSKY Concerto in D (1931)

SVENDSEN Romance in G, Op.26

TCHAIKOVSKY
Concerto in D, Op.35
Melodie in Eb, Op.42, #3
Valse-Scherzo, Op.34

VAUGHAN WILLIAMS The Lark Ascending

VIEUXTEMPS
Concerto #4 in d, Op.31
Concerto #5 in a, Op.37
Fantasia Appassionata, Op. 35

VIVALDI
Concerto in D, F.I.18
The Four Seasons, Op.8

WIENIAWSKI
Concerto #1 in f#, Op.14
Concerto #2 in d, Op.22
Fantaisie Brillante on themes from the opera Faust by Gounod
Souvenir de Moscou, Op. 6
Polonaise Brillante in A, Op. 21
Polonaise Brillante in D, Op. 4
Legende, Op. 17

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Acclaim

"Among the highlights on the closing concert was a sweetly rendered performance of the [Barber] Canzonetta by Livia Sohn."

— The New York Times

" ... the scariest portion of the evening must have been the Wieniawski -- at least for the soloist, who had to negotiate the technical demands of this showpiece. Sohn, who showed up in a sizzling strapless red brocade gown, poured out a tone of both purity and strength in playing that combined passion and refinement. It was that air of refinement, when so many young players feel they have to make their mark by sawing madly away on the fiddle, that distinguished Sohn's performance as much as her technical finesse and her accuracy of pitch. She made her violin sing in the melodies inspired by "Faust" arias."

— The Seattle Times

"At 25, Sohn has emerged as a splendid violinist with a sensuous tone and a technique that can conquer any difficulty. Above all, she is a serious and thoughtful artist who is more concerned with musicianship than showmanship, and so it was no surprise that her reading of Glazunov's romantic concerto was always sensitive but never sentimental."

— Democrat and Chronicle (Rochester)

"Ms. Sohn is a technician to contend with. She is a neat, fastidious player who attends to every detail rather than creating an impression with flashy gestures. It was gratifying to see her prevail over Paganini's perilous odds. The crowd was delighted, too, awarding her a standing ovation."

— The Cincinnati Post

"The [Beethoven] violin concerto basked in the warm acoustic surroundings, and was marvelously played by Livia Sohn, a soloist with everything - youth, talent, beauty. It was a memorable performance."

— New Zealand Herald

"The gifted young soloist was Livia Sohn, who played with a heated exuberance and heartfelt musicality. I have also heard Ms. Sohn subsequently in a solo recital and can report that she is, indeed, a bonafide virtuoso and a stylistically sophisticated interpreter."

— New York Concert Review

"Through this brilliant, and difficult score [Shostakovich's violin concerto], Sohn played with incredible concentration and intensity, every note clear as a jeweled bell, every rhythm crisp as a frosty dawn. Her bow changes were seamless, and the vitality and power of every single note from the shortest to the longest, sang with astonishing strength and brilliance."

— The Chronicle-Herald Nova Scotia

"More than 50 years in age separated violinist Livia Sohn from conductor Sidney Harth, but their mutual artistic response could have been measured in milliseconds. During their performance of Bruch's Scottish Fantasy with The Louisville Orchestra, it didn't matter that she is hovering around her 21st birthday and he is closer to his 75th. What did matter was their sumptuous collaboration in an account of persuasive freshness and passion. If this is what's meant by passing on tradition, then let the decades roll."

— The Courier-Journal (Louisville)

"An emotionally and technically complex piece [Shostakovich Violin Concerto #1], the four-movement work is symphonic in scope, yet Sohn played with masterful command of both its outer shape and inner intricacies."

— Dayton Daily News

"Livia Sohn has all of the makings of a great soloist. From her opening sequence, Sohn captivated the audience with her aggressive attacks, a showy cadenza in the first movement, soft and sweet phrasing in the middle movement, thrilling high notes in the finale."

— The Grand Rapids Press

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Press

Review: OPERA FANTASIES FOR VIOLIN

Works by Hubay, Raff, Stravinsky, Golijov, Weill, Prutsman, Paganini, Bizet & Lalo
Livia Sohn (violin); Geoff Nuttall (violin, viola); Benjamin Loeb (piano)
Naxos- 8.570202(CD)

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Strad Magazine - April, 2008
Livia Sohn, a former graduate of the Juillard School and pupil of the legendary Felix Galamir, possesses a remarkably lithe and transparent tone of exceptional purity. [Her] virtually blemishless accounts of such 'finger-breakers' as Hubay's Carmen Fantasy and Paganini's Variations on 'Di tanti palpiti' are nothing short of remarkable. Her subtle use of a narrow but never intense vibrato leaves her particularly vulnerable to potential lapses in intonation, yet even when under the most fearsome technical pressure at high velocity, every note rings true with pinpoint accuracy.

The highlight of the recital is Stephen Prutsman's Fantasy Extract from Der Rosenkavalier, which integrates virtuoso acrobatics and legato radiance with supreme elegance. From the start there is a palpable sense of exhilaration and portamento luxuriance so that one altogether forgets that one is listening to a virtuoso pot-pourri. Kurt Weill's post-Great War irony breathes the air of a different planet, although Mack the Knife proves no less adaptable to violin pyrotechnics, as witness Sohn's stunning negotiation of some rapid-fire left-hand pizzicato and sotto voce double-stopped harmonics. [The] recording captures every nuance with commendable detail.

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Strings – April, 2008
In this new recording, Livia Sohn gives superb, rousing performance of expertly arranged works. Paganini's delightful arrangement Rossini's "Tancredi" demands all of the high-flying wizardry one would imagine: triple-stops, lightening-fast bow work, left-hand pizzicato, and double-stop harmonics (Sohn sounds like a piccolo!), all of which Sohn executes with jaw-dropping ease. In Jeno Hubay's adaptation of popular tunes from Bizet's "Carmen", Sohn is a tour de force. She captures the spirit of the music and convincingly portrays each character, from the pomp of the bullring to the seductiveness of Carmen. Pianist Benjamin Loeb and Sohn are spectacular in their rendition of Golijov's hauntingly gorgeous evocation of lost love. With her icy, whispering tone in the beginning, which increases to a wide, plaintive vibrato, Sohn is quite convincing. This album is highly recommended for its ambition and high level of expression.

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Discography

Livia Sohn Live

Shostakovich Concerto No. 1 in a, op.99 Mov III, Mov IV Paganini Concerto No. 2 in b, op. 7 Mov II, Mov III Beethoven Concerto in D, op. 61 Mov II Grieg Sonata No. 3 in c, op. 45 Mov 1, Mov II

Opera Fantasies for Violin Naxos 8.570202

Hubay: Fantaisie brilliante on Bizet's Carmen, Op. 3, No. 3 Raff: Duo on themes from Wagner's Lohengrin, Op. 63, No. 3 Stravinsky arr. Samuel Dushkin: Parasha's Arai from Mavra Golijov arr. Golijov/Stephen Prutsman: Desde mi ventana (From my window) Weill arr. Stefan Frenkel: Song of Human Insufficiency/Mack the Knife Prutsman: Fantasy Extract on Themes from Richard Strauss's Der Rosenkavalier Paganini: I palpiti- Introduction and Variations on Di tanti palpiti Bizet arr. Benjamin Loeb: Au font du temple saint Lalo arr. Joseph Szigeti: Aubade