Liana Zaretsky was born in Moscow, Russia. A few years after her family immigrated to the U.S. and landed in Boston, MA, Liana started violin lessons. At age 11, she joined the Longy School of Music Young Performers Program, an intensive preparatory music school, where she spent all day every Saturday until high school graduation. Her teachers included Sarah Scriven, Valeria Kuchment and the renowned Roman Totenburg.
Liana received her bachelor's degree in music from Manhattan School of Music where she studied with third prize Tchaikovsky Competition winner Albert Markov. During that time, she was one of the youngest participants at the Tanglewood Music Center summer fellowship program. Liana went on to continue her Master's degree at Northwestern University, participating in the Civic Orchestra of Chicago Fellowship Program for two years. Upon completing her Master's degree, Liana joined the New World Symphony in Miami for three years. There, she was one of the rotating concert masters under Music Director Michael Tilson Thomas.
In 1997, when Liana moved back to Boston, she won the Principal second violin position in the Portland Symphony in Maine. She was also a member of the Radius Chamber Music Ensemble for three years, and completed a Graduate Diploma at New England Conservatory, studying once again with Valeria Kuchment.
Zaretsky appears regularly with the Boston Symphony Orchestra and with the Boston Pops Orchestra. She served on the faculty of All Newton Music School for seven years and as guest faculty for the Boston Youth Symphony Orchestras, coaching chamber music. Currently she teaches at New England Conservatory in the Preparatory School and at the Rivers School. She has also completed a second Masters degree in Clinical Psychology.
B.M. (Manhattan School of Music), M.M. (Northwestern University), Graduate Diploma (NEC).