11/09/2025
Happy birthday Briana Leaman-Oboist 🎉🎊🍾
✨Briana Leaman✨
American-Australian oboist Briana Leaman, PhD, has performed and taught throughout North America, Europe, Asia, and Australia. A native of South Carolina, Briana completed her Bachelor of Music Performance degree at the University of South Carolina with Dr. Rebecca Nagel, and received her Master of Music Performance at the Haute École des Arts du Rhin with Sébastien Giot and Christian Schmitt. In 2023, Briana received her PhD in Music Performance for her research on Francis Poulenc's Sonate pour hautbois et piano, FP 184 from the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music at the University of Melbourne, for which she was a Melbourne Research Scholarship recipient. Briana served as the Victorian State Representative for the Australasian Double Reed Society (ADRS) from 2019-2024.
Since winning her first orchestra audition at the age of 21, Briana has performed with orchestras and ensembles in the United States, Europe, and Australia, including the Greenville and Charleston Symphony Orchestras, the Orchestre Philharmonique de Strasbourg, the Opéra National du Rhin, Victorian Opera, the George Ellis Orchestra, Musica Viva, Queensland's Camerata, Melbourne Chamber Orchestra, and Orchestra Victoria. During her time in France, Briana also worked in collaboration with renowned conductor Theodor Guschlbauer to program and perform solo and chamber performances at the Prix de l'Europe Awards Ceremony and other events for members of the European Parliament. She has performed in the World Premieres of The Dressmaker (Peter Rutherford and James Millar, 2018) and A Christmas Carol (Graeme Koehne and Anna Goldsworthy, 2022), as well as the Victorian Premiere of Mimi's Symphony in 2020 (George Ellis and Justine Clarke, 2019). In 2023, Briana was the featured soloist for the Australian Doctors Orchestra's 30th Anniversary Concert, performing Graeme Koehne's exciting and dramatic oboe concerto, In-Flight Entertainment, under the baton of Ingrid Martin.
Briana is an enthusiastic soloist and chamber musician. Her artistic philosophy is inspired by 'The Aesthetic Response': Moments of experienced consciousness, both perceived and intuitive. To this end, her thoughtfully-designed performances seek to craft a journey for the heart and mind, leading to sometimes-unexpected destinations.
Inspired by the distinctive dynamism and beauty of Australia, Duo Obax (Briana's partnership with her husband, saxophonist Joseph Lallo), has commissioned multiple new works for their unique instrumentation by composers including Nicholas Russoniello, Kate Tempany, Ross Edwards, Omid Shayan, and Luke Severn. The Duo's ABC Classic recording of Luke Severn’s instrumental 'song cycle', and other lines, with British-Australian concert pianist Yasmin Rowe quickly became a fixture on ABC Classic FM, and was a long-standing feature on ABC Classic’s ‘Best of Australian Classical Music’ and ‘Swoon’ playlists.
Briana's other collaborations with Yasmin Rowe include a recently-completed series of three 'recitals' - or, more appropriately, 'aesthetic vignettes' - (Time: Suspended, Blue: Rising, and Opal: Dawns), collectively titled Phantasy Meditations. Each instalment in the trilogy is accompanied by Briana's original poetry, which serves as a guide into the atmosphere of these bespoke musical sojourns. In 2024, Briana and Yasmin, with the support of Buffet-Crampon/Rigoutat, completed a recital and masterclass tour of Regional Victoria; giving performances and collaborating with local schools across six regional centres (Geelong, Ballarat, Shepparton, Bendigo, Traralgon, and Phillip Island).
Briana's most recent chamber initiative, The Melba Collective, made its debut in November 2024, performing to a sold-out audience at the Riverina Conservatorium of Music in Wagga Wagga, NSW. Initially brought together by the intriguing colours and intricate textures of Ingrid Stölzel's work The Gorgeous Nothings, this group of vibrant and talented women [Briana Leaman (oboe), Eliza Shephard (flute), Lisette Bolton (soprano), and Yasmin Rowe (piano)] draws inspiration from the fortitude, feminist spirit, and musical legacy of Dame Nellie Melba.
As a teacher, Briana seeks to foster 'Creative Curiosity', confidence, and personal expression in her students. She is the oboe teacher at Loreto Mandeville Hall, and is an examiner for the Australian Music Examinations Board (AMEB) in Victoria. Briana is also a Teaching Associate and Assistant for the Chamber Music program at the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music. Briana has given masterclasses at the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music, Adelaide’s 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, and has been invited to be a recurrent Guest Mentor for 3MBS’s ‘The Talent’. She is registered as a teacher on 'Play With a Pro', and is a featured artist on the innovative education platform, Online Virtuoso.
Briana is proud to be a Rigoutat Artist and plays on a model ‘J’ oboe.
