BIOGRAPHY
Suzanne Lansford
Born in San Pedro, California, Suzanne and her sister Christine were first taught piano, before they could even walk, by their mother, Cecily Lansford, who was studying piano in college. Their father, John Lansford, was playing piano in the US Army Band and though he later pursued technical degrees in physics and microbiology, he continued supporting his family by playing jazz and ragtime piano before later becoming a general contractor building custom homes. Growing up, Suzanne and her sister were infused daily with a full stack of vinyl records from Chopin and Charlie Parker to Credence Clearwater, and they developed a rich appreciation for the entire musical spectrum. Suzanne began studying violin at the age of 6 using the Suzuki method, and after starting and stopping lessons several times, with the encouragement of mom and dad, she quit them altogether at 13 to play jazz violin at the Arizona Biltmore and other venues around Phoenix and Scottsdale, Arizona (USA) for live performances and radio shows. She decided on a non-musical college path, since the musical side of life was already well underway, and graduated from Arizona State University with a degree in electrical engineering.
Following both parents’ mingling of technical and artistic pathways (mom’s degree was in radiology), Suzanne dove into an electrical engineering career at nuclear power plants across the US, and later, traffic signal and roadway lighting design which she still does through her own engineering firm, Town Lighting Engineers. Never turning her back on music, she meanwhile finds diverse outlets for herself and Kippy, her 1795 Anton Jais German violin. Inspired by classical violinist Itzhak Perlman and jazz violinist Joe Venuti, she played Greek music in Phoenix with the Sahnas Brothers, then in Chicago, joined the classical / jazz / Latin group, Third Coast String Quartet. Even today when visiting Chicago, she makes time to visit and play Gypsy Jazz with Alfonso Ponticelli and Swing Gitan at the Green Mill. In rural Florida, immersed in bluegrass, she won the Yee-Haw Junction Bluegrass Fiddle Championship twice.
Back home in Phoenix since 2011, she doesn't have to pick a favorite genre – everything gets cameos of Latin, Jazz, Classical, even Blues and mediterranean flavors. She continues recordings and live performances with the Sahnas Brothers, and since 2016, she has been a member of the musical group, We3, with Nicole Pesce (piano), and Renee Grant Patrick (vocals), recording and playing in venues across Arizona, the US, and Europe.