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Liz Knowles’ fascination with music has been a lifelong exploration of how to arrive, land, and leave a note. It is what happens between the notes that define all music and indeed, it is what has happened “in between” that has defined Liz’s life and career. Her early foundations were rooted in classical music–interestingly enough, at the time, the most compelling to her were the “edges” of classical music, Early music and Minimalism. Living in New York City and later in Chicago, she worked with a variety of artists including Marcus Roberts, The Bang-on-a-Can Orchestra, Bobby McFerrin, Paula Cole, Steve Reich, Eliot Goldenthal, Rachel Barton, and Don Henley but it is her long and storied journey with Irish music that has deepened the color and voice in her playing. Liz has established herself as a dynamic performer and recording artist in Irish music as fiddler for Riverdance, Cherish the Ladies, The String Sisters, The Martin Hayes Quartet, and with her trio of over twenty years, Open the Door for Three. She traveled the world with large stage shows and recording projects as performer, music director and producer, featured as soloist on the film soundtrack for “Michael Collins” and with many orchestras across America, including The New York Pops at Carnegie Hall and the National Symphony at the Kennedy Center, and performed on Broadway with “The Pirate Queen”.
Composing and arranging music has always been a through-line in her musical life. She has been commissioned by such institutions and festivals as the Art Institute of Chicago, University of Notredame, University of Toronto, and the Rockport Celtic Festival and she has an ever-expanding body of work for full orchestra, string orchestra, and string quartet that explore the edges and liminal spaces between traditional and classical music.
Teaching, another through-line in her life, has been a rich and meaningful area of exploration and one that has expanded her scope of expression beyond in-person lessons to large scale camps, workshops, seminars, presentations, and writing. She is a sought-after instructor at workshops and camps both in the US, hosts online teaching and has an adjunct position at the New England Conservatory. Her two favorite “liminal” projects are her bi-monthly newsletter, LizNotes, which explores teaching, practice, Irish music, and the “In-Between”, and “The Lizzes Podcast”, a podcast co-produced with fiddler extraordinaire Liz Carroll.
