About

Dublin born cellist Lioba Petrie studied in Dublin’s Conservatory of Music and Drama, graduating in 2000 with a diploma in instrumental teaching and then graduating from NUI Maynooth with a BAmus in 2001. Lioba is passionate about chamber music, post college enjoyed her time in contemporary ensemble Electro Acoustic Revue (EAR), exploring new music. Currently she is a member and manager of the Astral String Quartet. As well as working as a freelance musician, Lioba is regularly engaged as a contractor for large and small ensembles for live concerts and recording sessions. Lioba is founder and director of Studio Orchestra Ireland. Most recently she was engaged as contractor for Stewart Copeland’s Police Deranged for Orchestra, an animated feature film “Oops 2” (Eimear Noone/Craig Stuart Garfinkle), The Canterville Ghost, released in 2023, and Niko-Beyond the Northern Lights.  Lioba is currently working as a coach and music consultant on a popular Netflix series due for release in 2025.

Lioba took over the co-management and curation of the popular Kaleidoscope Night concert series in January 2014, she now is the artistic director, curator and presenter and currently running its 16th season, creating monthly unique events, supporting artists and commissioning new music.  Lioba is also co-director, curator, and founder of the highly innovative Spike Dublin Alternative Cello Festival (established 2016). As an educator, Lioba holds teaching positions at the Rathdown Music Centre (Co. Dublin) and at Clongowes Wood College (Co. Kildare).

Lioba has vast experience composing and performing music for theatre and film, with projects including Permission Granted (2023) a brand-new work with Abigail Smith looking at the Human condition of getting in our own way and Nick Lee’s “Luca and the sunshine” as part of Dublin Fringe Festival. Lioba composed and performed music for “The Messenger” with London based Limbik Theatre Company, a deep dive into organ donation. A member of 3epkano for over 10 years, Lioba has written, composed, improvised, and recorded film scores for old silent movies and modern film. As part of this ensemble Lioba performed at major arts festivals all over Ireland as well as BAM Film Festival, the Lincoln Centre in New York, and the National Gallery in Washington D.C. and released one EP and two albums. Lioba continues her work with film in a solo capacity and with new ensemble Unshaped Form with whom she will be releasing music with in 2024. Lioba enjoyed an artist’s residency at the Centre Culturel Irlandais, (Paris) where she was commissioned to compose and then perform a new score to Chris Marker’s film “La Jetée” (1962). Lioba has performed and recorded with the prestigious RTE Concert Orchestra as well as The City of Dublin Chamber Orchestra.