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Biography - Lucy Southern
Originally from the San Francisco Bay Area, Lucy Southern began playing violin at age 5. In her early years, she studied the violin with Ellen Rose and later with Irene Sazer (co-founder of the Grammy Award-winning Turtle Island Quartet). She participated in programs at the Crowden School and was a member of the Berkeley Youth Orchestra. She went on to study at San Francisco State University School of Music. There, she studied with the Alexander String Quartet and earned a Bachelor of Music degree in violin performance. She was awarded the Shenson Foundation Award for her final recital and graduated Summa Cum Laude ("with the highest distinction").
Inspired by adventure and the rich jazz violin tradition she moved to Paris, where she quickly performed with renowned musicians in the Parisian jazz scene, such as Eva Slongo and Philippe Mallard. She deepened her mastery of jazz by studying at the Didier Lockwood school and with renowned jazz violinist Pierre Blanchard at the Aubervilliers Conservatory. Concurrently, she founded the Gypsy Messengers group, with whom she played numerous concerts, including on the small stage of the Django Reinhardt Festival. She integrated into other groups, giving her the opportunity to perform in renowned venues such as the L'Eglise de la Madeleine in Paris, Café Jazz Montparnasse, the Andernos Jazz Festival, and more. She also toured across Europe as a violinist with the renowned contemporary French circus, Akoreacro. In 2022, she had the honor of being selected as one of the top 10 semi-finalists in the Zbigniew Seifert International Jazz Violin Competition in Lusławice, Poland. This year she released an EP with her jazz quartet Lucy Southern Quartet, with Issa Souriant on piano/Fender Rhodes, Henri Lassemillante on double bass and Fabien Dechaumont on drums.
