Dr. Victor Liva
Dr. Victor Liva began his tenure as music director of the Cleveland Philharmonic Orchestra in 2007. Under his direction, the Philharmonic has maintained its strong core of talented community musicians while attracting a growing membership of amateur, professional and advanced student musicians. Dr. Liva has led the Philharmonic in collaborations with Verb Ballets, the Almeda Trio, and the West Shore Chorale, and in side-by-side performances with Cleveland School of the Arts and Lakewood High School students. Soloists have included Cleveland Orchestra members, faculty members from Cleveland’s educational institutions, and artists pursuing international solo careers.
As the director of orchestras at Cleveland State University, Dr. Liva conducts the symphony and chamber orchestras, coordinates the string program and serves as the director of graduate programs in music. Previous appointments include director of orchestras at Northern Arizona University, resident conductor of the Flagstaff Symphony Orchestra, and orchestra conductor and professor of violin at Wilkes University. In 2013, he conducted the Mihail Jora Philharmonic of Bacau, Romania.
Dr. Liva has collaborated with highly regarded artists including award- winning pianist Spencer Myer, Grammy-award winning pianist Angelin Chang, violinist Odin Rathnam, and cellist Ovidiu Marinescu. He has performed with Cleveland Orchestra members, including first-associate concertmaster Peter Otto; cellists Bryan Dumn, Alan Harrell and Tanya Ell; and violists Art Klima and Joanna Patterson.
Dr. Liva has a long history of working with talented young musicians at clinics, festivals and regional and youth orchestras. He has conducted the Northern Ohio Youth Orchestras; Connecticut All-State Music Festival; Flagstaff Youth Orchestra; and the Sinfonia Youth Orchestra in Scranton, Pennsylvania.
Dr. Liva began studying violin at the age of six with his father, Ferdinand Liva, a respected conductor and educator. Dr. Liva earned an undergraduate degree and Master of Music in violin performance and a Doctor of Musical Arts in conducting. He has performed with numerous professional orchestras throughout his career and is former assistant concertmaster of the Flagstaff Symphony Orchestra.