Liesel Soley, violinist, was a scholarship student at the Juilliard School of Music where she received her B.S. and M.S. degrees. She was awarded the Walter Damrosch Scholarship for study in Fontainebleau, France where she had the opportunity to work with Nadia Boulanger and was selected to have master classes with Yehudi Menuhin in his home in Gstaad, Switzerland. After college she won a Fulbright Scholar Grant and continued study in Paris. Ms. Soley has performed solo recitals in the U.S. and France and was the violinist in the piano trio, “Trio Viva”. She has taught violin at the Manhattan School of Music and the School of the Arts in New York City, and has taught violin and viola at St.Petersburg College, the Pinellas County Center for the Arts, and Shorecrest Preparatory School in St. Petersburg, Florida.
Liesel Soley has always been primarily involved in her career as a violinist, but has also enjoyed expressing herself as a painter, illustrator, and author. Ms. Soley is self-taught in these various disciplines. While in N.Y.C., excursions to art museums were welcome breaks from practicing violin. She began painting in oils in the seventies. In 1976 she was one of several artists chosen to exhibit works for the tenth anniversary art show and sale at the Riverview Gallery in N.Y.C. Ms. Soley missed the opening celebration as she was on tour with the Royal Winnipeg Ballet of Canada! Shortly after this event, Ms. Soley was invited to participate in an international art fair in Greenwich Village. During one season in her early years as a painter it was very satisfying to have two persons commission paintings. Most of her drawing, illustrating, and writing has been in recent years. Ms. Soley is presently teaching violin, viola, and chamber music privately in her studio in Clearwater, Florida.
Liesel Soley is the author of several books including the children’s book, Can You Be An Artist? She has also written Could It Be? a journey concerning death, life, and spirituality, and Playing Fiddle In The Streets.