By Nick Christophers
Not many people equate music with the divine but for Liz Luceris it is a blessing to be able to offer her musical talent to the public. Liz who was trained at Berklee feels like she was not looking for a career in music but that it was born in her and a gift from above. The music that began to shape her were composers like Rachmaninoff, Brahms, and Schubert. Her tastes began to alter while as a teenager with the sounds of symphonic metal from artists like Nightwish (Tarja era), Epica, and Lacrimosa. She was also drawn to Hong Kong’s Cantopop for a time.
“I trained in film and game scoring at Berklee, which shaped a lot of how I approach music now. It didn’t necessarily change my voice, but it gave me a toolkit — a way of thinking in images, pacing, emotional contour. It taught me how to serve a story without overexplaining myself. So no — music wasn’t a passion I followed. It was more like something that shaped me quietly over time, and eventually, I just kept walking the path it opened.”
As a spiritual person she believes that her faith is not what drives her, but what has molded her and bonded her. She does not look at making music for any success or identity but a way of giving back what has been planted in her. Her faith is written in her music in a covert and peaceful manner which is the reason she forges forward. Liz relates this type of weaving to the way Bach left his mark on his work signed Soli Deo Gloria (To God alone be the glory) which became her slogan, a way of living.
Ever since her musical journey began she has developed a growing collection of lyrics that are still unfinished and piano sketches that are named after saints and stuffed animals. She does have specific tracks she would like to put together as a complete package but not yet. Liz has still marinated them like a suite called Ragged Teddy Bear’s Funeral and a piece she wrote for St. John the Apostle, but it is still in the infant stages. So far Liz has performed mostly as a concert pianist and in classical recitals, chamber music concerts, and solo features with an orchestra. Currently, she is more focused on live performance and interpretation and as a behind-the-scenes composer.
Liz seems to bend towards classical orchestral writing, especially romantic strings with emotional weight. But Liz admits, based on her Berklee training she has learned to adapt to various styles of music. Liz has incorporated her spiritual journey within
her lyrics but in a more subliminal way but she points out her lyrics are more about holding the wound than healing it. Liz has no long-term plan now, but she is looking to expand her lyrical work and finish her two pieces mentioned earlier. She allows her talent and God’s guidance to forge forward and when her artistic light bulb flares up, she is more than ready to complete the task.
