"Leah Z performs brilliantly in a variety of idioms." - Scott Yanow, Jazz Critic
Leah Z’s musical success story has been anything but conventional. Her eclectic range and professional experience has literally included every musical style imaginable. Born and raised in Houston,Texas, violinist and vocalist Leah Z’s comes from a family of professional symphony musicians. Having played the violin since the age of six, she has won numerous awards and soloed with orchestras in and around Texas. At 15 she made her solo debut playing the first movement of the Wiieniawski Violin Concerto with the Clear Lake Symphony Orchestra. That same year, she began studying voice with leading American mezzo- soprano, Katherine Ciesinski. Leah attended the High School for Performing and Visual Arts. Before graduating, she performed the Bach Double at Carnegie Hall. She won a scholarship to attend the University of Texas at Austin where she majored in both opera and violin. At 19 years old, while still in college, Leah won a tenured position in the first violin section of the Austin Symphony Orchestra, becoming the youngest member on staff.
While in the Austin Symphony, Leah played with soloists including Pinchas Zukerman, Leila Josefowitz, YoYoMa, Elvis Costello, and bands such as Pink Martini, The 4 Tops, the Big Bad Voodoo Daddies, and Charlie Daniels, with whom she was selected to duel on the tune Devil Went Down to Georgia. She has appeared on the television show, Austin City Limits with both Pearl Jam and Willie Nelson. In 2009, her folk band "The Hudsons" won Best Folk Band in the Austin Chronicle Awards. From 2006-07, she performed as the lead singer/violinist/dancer with the international world-touring fiddle concert sensation Barrage across Europe, Asia, and North and South America. In 2007, she appeared as a soloist at the Eric Clapton Crossroads Blues Festival in Chicago alongside prominent artists such as Alison Krauss, John Mayer and Sheryl Crow.
In 2010, her first year in LA, she performed as a member of Vitamin String Quartet and won positions as associate concert master of San Bernardino Symphony and first violinist in the Redlands Symphony while recording the music for a season of Warner Brother's tv show, Off the Map. During that year, Leah was also offered a 3 year contract with Celine Dion in Vegas but turned it down in favor of various touring opportunities. In the last 2 years, she has performed with legendary world-music duo, Strunz and Farah and Argentinian-born gypsy jazz guitarist, Gonzalo Bergara(gonzalobergara.com) at international music festivals including the Montreal Jazz Festival, Buenos Aires Jazz Festival, Panama City Jazz Festival, SXS Win Austin, and Jazz at the Olympia in Paris. She has also toured with the Trans-siberian Orchestra and was concert master/soloist for Kristen Chenoweth (Wicked,Glee). Leah’s recent recording credits include collaborations with MichaelJackson's former musical director, Michael Bearden, Bear McCreary, composer of "Battlestar Galactica" and "The Walking Dead", Kenny Loggins, and string arrangements/recording for Billy Ray Cyrus' latest album. Most recently, Leah became a member of the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra, performed with Miley Cyrus on her live unplugged show, recorded and produced her second album, "Pour Moi", produced and starred in her first major music video "Th eMan I Love", and toured with five-time Grammy-winner, Ceelo Green as his soloviolinist. She served as concert master and soloviolinist with Annie Lennox on all of her music videos for the "Nostalgia" album and on Lennox' PBS Great Performances special.
Leah appeared on the 2015 Grammys performing with Electric Light Orchestra and was selected to play a solo with Stevie Wonder during his "Songs in the Key of Life" tour. The Leah Z Quartet performs regularly in the greater Los Angeles area, and her album Pour Moi is a perfect demonstration of her virtuosity on the violin, her unique and sophisticated vocal technique, and her multi-cultural approach to music.
She is endorsed by Yamaha and D'Addario.
