Violinist Liana Gourdjia has been acclaimed for her "astonishingly pure tone, artistry and bewitching lyricism." Liana was introduced to the violin by her grandmother, a violinist of a "Mosfilm" orchestra, at the age of four. Her first debut as a soloist with an orchestra was at the age of nine. At the age of six, Liana appeared on Moscow television as a rising star and has since performed concertos with orchestras and recitals with her mother, a collaborative pianist at the Moscow State Conservatory, in many prestigious venues throughout Russia including the Great Hall and the Tchaikovsky Hall in Moscow, and the Philharmonic Hall in Saint-Petersburg.

As a laureate of the prestigious New Names foundation in Moscow and a fellow of the Spivakov foundation, she performed in the Vatican for Pope Jean Paul II, released a CD with the Melodia label for the performances at the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta and was invited as a young my talent to the International Colmar Festival. Liana Gourdjia became a laureate of the Tchaikovsky International Competition for Young Artists in Sendai in Japan at the age of fourteen and subsequently appeared numerous times on television and radio programs dedicated to presenting young stars in Russia and Europe.

Winner of the Sion-Valais International Competition, Liana has also won prizes at the Michael Hill, Corpus Christi, Hudson Valley and Kingsville International Competitions. She has soloed with orchestras of Lille, SWR Sinfonieorchester Baden-Baden und Freiburg, Moscow Philharmonic, Zagreb Soloists, Fort Wayne Philharmonic, Lithuanian National Symphony, Hudson Valley Philharmonic, the Ashville Symphony, City Music Cleveland, the Cleveland Chamber, and the orchestras of Indiana University and the Cleveland Institute of Music under François- Xavier Roth, Andrew Grams, Daniel Hege, Paul Haas, James Gaffigan, Shlomo Mintz, Carl Topilow, Thomas Hinds, David Effron, Steven Smith, and Sergei Stadler.

As an active chamber musician, Ms. Gourdjia has collaborated with such artists as Jaime Laredo, Lawrence Power, Vladimir Mendelssohn, Marc Coppey, David Soyer, Antonio Meneses, Giovanni Belucci, François-Frederic Guy, Alexander Melnikov, Peter Laul, and members of Talich, Vogler, Juilliard, Guarneri and Tokyo String Quartets among many other musicians. Liana is a founding member of the Gourdjia- Coppey- Laul piano trio. The trio has been invited the perform in many prestigious venues including the Théâtre de la Ville in Paris, Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, the West Cork festival, to name but a few. Liana has performed at festivals including the Printemps des Arts in Monte Carlo, Musique de Chambre de Lyon, the 92/Y in New York, Les Musicales de Compesieres in Geneva, Les Musicales de Colmar, and is a laureate of Juventus festival in France. She was awarded a three year fellowship at The Marlboro Music festival, where she had a chance to collaborate with Mitsuko Uchida, Leon Fleisher, Kim Kashkashian...

A proponent of contemporary music, she has frequently premiered works, commissioned by her from prominent and upcoming composers. She is a member of the Paris based Ensemble Variances under direction of Thierry Pécou and served as a concertmaster of the New Music Ensemble at Indiana University under direction of David Dzubay. 

Liana Gourdjia was awarded the 2009-2011 residency with the Montgomery Symphony in US, where she served as a soloist, concertmaster and recitalist. The Montgomery Symphony had proudly supported Liana's debut CD with pianist Efi Hackmey. 

Liana began her studies at the famous Central Music School at the Moscow State Conservatory with renowned professors Iryna Bochkova and Maya Glezarova. Upon graduating, she moved to the U.S. to continue her studies with David and Linda Cerone at the Cleveland Institute of Music, where she received Bachelor and Master of Music degrees. Liana received an Artist Diploma from the Jacob’s School of Music at Indiana University, Bloomington, studying with Jaime Laredo. At The Indiana University she was the first recipient of the prestigious Jacob’s scholarship, and was subsequently awarded the Performance Certificate in recognition for outstanding performances at her degree recitals. Liana benefited from master classes with Menahem Pressler, Janos Starker, Gil Shaham, Alex Kerr, Pamela Frank, Arnold Steinhardt, Gabor Takacs and the Orion String Quartet. An avid reader, she is fluent in Russian, French and English. Liana now lives in Paris, pursuing a career as a soloist and a chamber musician. 

Liana’s forthcoming CD release on the Audite label features the Stravinsky violin concerto and works for violin and piano with the Deutsche Radio Philharmoniker of Saarbrucken and pianist Katia Skanavi.

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Press reviews

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The Herald Times, 2011 
.. what one heard was always right on the mark, clear and tidy and, where subtlety was called for, astonishingly pure. Artistically, she was also able to find, beneath and within often acerbic figures, a bewitching lyricism. At times, music and interpretation became hauntingly suggestive of musical poetry. 
And when she came to the concerto's middle movement, the biting, mischievous Scherzo, Gourdjia proved she was ready for the game and capable of conquest... 

L'Alsace - Husseren-Wesserling - 'A new level has been reached' - October 21, 2010
On Saturday night concert for the Credit Mutual de la Thur bank, Jacques Humbert, President of the South Alsace district announced one of his precepts: 'In music, there are no relationships without listening.' There were indeed warm and rich relationships, between the violin virtuoso Liana Gourdjia and the audience. 
Fully focused, the violinist revealed a baroque soul to serve Bach well, with cadences, marvelous vibrato and astounding musicality. Liana mastered the music of Sibelius with maturity. She did not spare the lyrical passages and played with great finesse and an innate sense of legato. 
But, it was especially with Tchaikovsky, in his «Melody», that she allowed her exceptional talent to shine. By her technical command and the magnificent sonorities, drawn from her violin, she offered a remarkable rendering. In this work she created a palpable emotion through her serene and poetic bow. One must not forget her accopmanist, Karine Selo from the Paris Conservatory, who was able to adapt to the playing of the violinist with finesse, while enriching it frequently with superb nuances. 

Les Dernières Notes, October 19, 2010
An amazing concert Saturday evening at the Musicales du Parc de Wesserling with guest soloist, the Russian violinist, Liana Gourdjia. The last notes of «Melody» by Tchaikovsky concluded softly as if regretfully leaving the hand and the bow. After having played J.S. Bach and Sibelius, Liana returned to her country of birth to chant the soul of the land of her Russian heritage with fire and music of dancing and singing of the soul and bow, mirroring that of magic baton. It was a blessed moment. 
The Bach C Major Violin Solo Sonata had already announced a musician who is one with her vioiln. Not trying to hide her emotions, with face from time to time seemingly tortured, and, by contrast, in a graceful passage, showing the hint of smile before she freed it imperceptably. When the bow flies over the strings, her movement becomes full, with hands trembling and her face like that of a Madonna watching over her child. 
The audience allows itself to slip into the safety of delight and follow her when she mounts the paths of passion. The work of Sibelius «Three Pieces for Violin and Piano» displayed a beautiful accord between the pianist Karin Selo and Liana Gourdjia, each listening to one another and one with keys dancing on the piano, the other tickling the strings with zest, creating a beautiful moment of poetry and emotion, shared as well by the audience. 

ClassicInfo, July 5, 2010
Le concert restera donc dans les mémoires pour sa seconde partie, consacrée au Trio N°1 de Brahms... Ce soir, ce sont Liana Gourdjia, Marc Coppey et Julien Libeer qui sont à la manœuvre, et qui y atteignent des hauteurs qui ne sont pas souvent fréquentées. Les trois musiciens sont exemplaires à de multiples niveaux : techniquement parfaitement au point, ils dominent la partition sans faiblir, et offrent des sonorités individuelles et collective somptueuses. Les trois tempéraments s’allient de manière admirable: Liana Gourdjia et Marc Coppey sont des complices-nés, et s’entendent à un degré difficile à égaler, tout en rivalisant d’ardeur, de fougue et de générosité...