Lia Melo
Lia Rafaela de Marcos e Melo, a passionate violist, was born in 2001 and has been playing viola since the age of 8.
Having been awarded 34 first prizes and 6 second prizes in International Music Competitions, she has been invited to perform as a soloist in London (Royal Albert Hall), Berlin (Berliner Philharmoniker), New York (Carnegie Hall), Vienna, Salzburg, Paris, Rome, Athens, Tokyo, Singapore, Madrid, Vigo, Quebec, Geneva, Sarajevo, Stockholm, Lisbon, Oporto, among others.
After being invited for Pre-College in Juilliard School, at the age of 15, she has been offered Financial awards and scholarships by Royal College of Music, Royal Academy of Music and Guildhall School of Music and Drama for her Bachelor, which she will start next year.
Lia has played as a soloist with Ensemble Symphony Orchestra (Max Bruch concerto for viola and clarinet and Cecil Forsyth viola concerto), Spanish Vigo Superior Music Conservatory Orchestra, “Camerata Atlântica” (Stamitz viola concerto) and Vila Real Regional Music Conservatory String and Baroque Orchestra (Telemann viola concerto, for 1 and 2 violas, and J.C. Bach viola concerto).
As a chamber musician, she has performed extensively with the Vila Real String Quartet and Trio with multiple concerts and awards, in Portugal and Spain.
As to orchestral playing, Lia has been a member of orchestras such as the Atlantic Coast Orchestra, JOP- Portuguese Youth Orchestra, Ensemble Symphony Orchestra (conducted by Cesário Costa) and the 1st Portuguese-German Youth Orchestra (section leader in both), as well as the Berliner Philharmoniker’s BE-PHIL Orchestra, under the baton of Stanley Dodds and Sir Simon Rattle. She has had her debut as an EUYO player in the 2018 Summer Tour, performing in Grafennegg, Bolzano, Warsaw, Berlin, Amsterdam, London, Stresa and Ferrara, under the baton of Peter Stark, Manfred Honeck and Gianandrea Noseda. Later, she took part in the WWI Armistice Centennial Ceremony with EUYO, conducted by Vasily Petrenko.