Riana Heath is an American-Indonesian violinist who expresses herself passionately in both solo and chamber music. She made her debut at the Musikverein in Vienna as a first prize winner of the 2016 Grand Prize Virtuoso International Music Competition. Often praised for her warm and soulful sound, she has given public performances in various concert halls throughout Europe, North America and Southeast Asia, providing her audiences with a wide range of repertoire. 

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Born in the USA in 1998, she received her first violin lessons at the age of six with Moscow Conservatory graduate Pavel Feldman in Montréal, Canada. At age thirteen she moved to Europe to study in the pre-college division of the prestigious Mozarteum University in Salzburg with Prof. Wonji Kim-Ozim, as a member of the Leopold Mozart Institute for highly gifted students. 

Riana holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in violin performance from the Mozarteum University having studied with Prof. Lily Francis. As a winner of the Erasmus+ scholarship in 2019, she had the opportunity to study at the Paris Conservatory for a year in the studio of Prof. Michaël Hentz. Riana Heath received her Master of Music degree from the Yale School of Music, where she was a recipient of the Stephen & Denise Adams scholarship while studying under the tutelage of Prof. Syoko Aki Erle and Prof. Soovin Kim. 

An enthusiastic musician, Riana also enjoys playing the viola and the five-stringed tenor viola. In addition to her violin studies she studied viola performance at the Mozarteum with Prof. Thomas Riebl, obtaining a double Bachelor of Arts degree. Riana is currently a Resident Violist at Music Haven, where she teaches a full viola studio and actively performs throughout Connecticut as a member of the Haven String Quartet. 

 

Riana has been guided by acclaimed violinists and professors such as Maxim Vengerov, Augustin Hadelich, Vadim Repin, Igor Ozim, Martin Beaver, Tai Murray, Dong Suk-Kang, Pierre Amoyal, and Ulf Wallin. Among those who have broadened her musical knowledge are Prof. Meesun Hong Coleman, Prof. Mark Zelmanovich, Prof. Jela Špitkova, and Irina Goldstein - wife of the legendary violinist Boris Goldstein.

 

As an avid chamber musician, she has been invited to appear at the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, the Taos School of Music Chamber Music Festival, the Norfolk Chamber Music Festival and the “Mit Musik Miteinander” of the Kronberg Academy in Germany.
Riana has been coached at the Sándor Végh Institute for Chamber Music in Salzburg by members of the Vienna Piano Trio, Minetti Quartett, Kuss Quartet, Quatuor Mosaïques, and the Hagen Quartet. Together with her sisters Dhyani and Susila Heath, she has performed in various concert venues as the “Eucharis Strings”, an ensemble founded in 2020 by the Heath sisters. As a trio, they have performed their own compositions and have recently commissioned a piece called „Sorores“ by American composer Tom Gurin.

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“I feel incredibly blessed to be able to play the violin. It gives me a sense of purpose and belonging in this world - that is to bring people together and share the joy of music. As a musician I try my best to give musical experiences which uplifts and enriches the hearts and souls of humanity. Music is such a magical language that connects people from all around the world. Although I’m fluent in five languages, I consider music to be by far my favorite means of communication” (Riana Heath)

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