Second Violin
Amy Licata was born in Richland, Washington where she began fiddling at five years old accompanied by her Granddad who played the bass. When she was eight she competed in the National Junior Fiddling competition, finishing third behind thirteen-year-old Mark O'Connor. Her family moved to the East Coast where Amy’s fiddling took a classical turn. Amy attended the New School of Music in Philadelphia where she studied with Jascha Brodsky. She spent her summers at Meadowmount studying with Sally Thomas and David Cerone. While being coached by Orlando Cole at the New School of Music, her quartet took First Place in the Junior Division of the Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition. That year she was named a Winner of the WFLN Young Instrumentalists Competition.
In 1983 she enrolled in Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia where she studied under Brodsky and Aaron Rosand. In 1986 she was the winner of the National Symphony Orchestra Young Soloist Competition, and she made her solo debut with the National Symphony that year. Her summers included studying with the Tokyo String Quartet as part of the Norfolk Chamber Music Festival, and then studied with the American String Quartet as part of the Taos School of Music Chamber Music Festival in 1987 and 1988.
After graduating from Curtis in 1988 Amy joined the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra. Amy has performed with the Ars Nova Musicians, Buffalo Chamber Music players, and enjoyed countless local performances in duets and trios. She has had the opportunity to solo with the BPO many times around the Western New York area.
Amy never lost her love of fiddling and has created numerous arrangements for fiddle and orchestra which she has performed with the BPO. Beyond classical music and fiddle tunes, Amy played the violin solo in “Take the A Train” on the BPO tribute to Duke Ellington, garnering praise that compared her to jazz violinist Stephane Grapelli. Amy lives in Buffalo with her husband John and their four children.