B i o g r a p h y
American-Australian oboist Briana Leaman has studied, performed, and taught throughout North America, Europe, Asia, and Australia.
A native of South Carolina, Briana completed her Bachelor of Music Performance at the University of South Carolina with Dr. Rebecca Nagel in 2013, and her Master of Music Performance with Sébastien Giot and Christian Schmitt at the Haute École des Arts du Rhin in Strasbourg, France in 2016. In 2023, she will complete her PhD in Music Performance at the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music, the University of Melbourne, for which she is a Graduate Research Scholarship recipient. Briana is an active member of the Australasian Double Reed Society, for which she is the Victorian State Representative.
Briana teaches oboe at Loreto Mandeville Hall, and is the Assistant Coordinator for Chamber Music and the Oboe Studio, as well as a chamber music coach and tutor for the Musical Perspectives course at the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music. She has given masterclasses at the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music, the Elder Conservatorium, the University of Texas at Austin's Butler School of Music, Vanderbilt University's Blair School of Music, and the University of South Carolina.
Briana has performed with many orchestras in the U.S., France, and Australia including the Greenville and Charleston Symphony Orchestras, the Orchestre Philharmonique de Strasbourg, the Opéra National du Rhin, and Orchestra Victoria. During her time in France, Briana worked in collaboration with renowned conductor Theodor Guschlbauer for solo and chamber performances at the Prix de l'Europe awards and for diplomatic events associated with the European Parliament. In 2021, she made her concerto debut in Melbourne performing Mozart's Oboe Concerto with the University of Melbourne Philharmonic Orchestra under the direction of Richard Davis. Briana enjoys a diverse performing career in addition to her orchestral work, and has played as part of the George Ellis Orchestra for concerts including Bowie: and The Beatles: Orchestrated and Mimi's Symphony with Justine Clarke, the Broadway production of Disney's Aladdin at Her Majesty's Theatre in Melbourne, and World Premieres of the musical The Dressmaker (Peter Rutherford and James Millar) in 2018 and A Christmas Carol (Graeme Koehne and Anna Goldsworthy) with Victorian Opera in 2022.
Briana is an active chamber musician, and has given performances alongside Joseph Lallo as Duo Obax in the United States, Singapore, and Australia (Adelaide, and Melbourne). Duo Obax has commissioned much of their repertoire from Australian composers including Ross Edwards, Nicholas Russioniello, Kate Tempany, and Luke Severn. In 2021, Duo Obax and pianist Yasmin Rowe released their debut album of Luke Severn's instrumental song cycle, and other lines, on ABC Classic. The recording quickly became a regular feature on ABC Classic FM and on ABC Classic's ‘Best of Australian Classical Music’ and 'Swoon' playlists.
Briana is proud to be a Rigoutat Artist and plays on a model ‘J’ oboe.
