B i o g r a p h y
Talia Wooldridge's eclectic musical studies of piano improvisation (Casey Sokol & Steve Koven), Karnatic Classical vocals (Trichy and Suba Sankaran), Hindustani Sitar (Anwar Kurshid & Rico Venerito), Brazilian percussion (Rick Lazar and Alan Henderson) and Turkish and Persian percussion have informed her unique and diverse style of composition. Additional influences include Malian Wassoulou singers, Balinese Gamelan, Argentine Tango and various Brazilian genres.
The majority of Talia's lyrical and instrumental work is completely improvised. Deeply inspired by nature and the cosmos, Talia uses music to convey images and soundscapes (often a video or story will accompany her electronic compositions).
Talia began studying classical piano at age 11 in Toronto, Canada, before graduating to jazz piano, jazz vocals and various styles of percussion at Humber College (Toronto), the Berkeley Jazz School with Mark Levine (California), and York University (Toronto) 2000 to 2005. During 2005-6, she interned with Toronto's Array Music. In 2008, Talia completed an MA in Ethnomusicology and has published papers, an encyclopaedia entry and a textbook essay on Latin American hip-hop and Cuban raperas, Las Krudas and Telmary.
Starting from a young age, Talia composed simple piano melodies, often in the theme and variation style. This progressed to basic jazz, classical, electronic and electroacoustic compositions during her studies at Humber Jazz College and York University. At York U, she studied composition with Bill Westcott and in the electro-acoustic department. In 2005, Talia started recording, producing and composing improvised music. She released her first solo piano album, Impressions, in December 2006. In 2015, Talia was accepted into ArrayMusic's Young Composer's Workshop where she composed "Nada Brahma: A Synthony" for the electroacoustic MalletKat instrument. She released her second improvised piano album, Infinite Possibilities in January 2016.
Talia has performed predominantly as a keyboardist starting with the late Achilla Orru’s Ugandan folk music group, Baana Afrique followed by Tibi Soul.Five (2001-2) and, most recently, performances with Lou-Reed-favorite, Flowers of Hell (Greg Jarvis, 2013-4). In 2008, she was a percussionist for a new opera, “Spring,” composed as the graduate composition PhD thesis for a York University’s Graduate student in the Composition program.
Her solo piano performing commenced November 11, 2011.
Talia has recorded with Steve Koven, Matt Brubeck and producers Dorje, Jacob and up and coming Sary. She has also been featured as a vocalist on electronic tracks and is a lyricist for published songs.
A native to the bustling cosmopolitan city, Toronto, Canada, Talia has also lived in San Francisco, Boston, Montreal, parts of Brazil and Paris and travelled Europe, the Caribbean and Latin America extensively. The beauty and unique character of these places inform her spontaneous musical style and lyrics.
In her spare time, Talia serves as Executive Director and Co-Founder of the non-profit organization, Music Can Heal (www.musicccanheal.org).