Alicia Venables was born in Victoria, British Columbia and grew up in Armstrong, B.C. She held a one-year contract with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra from 2019-2020 and previously was a member of the first violin section in the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra.
She was a participant at Music Academy of the West, the New York String Orchestra Seminar, the National Arts Centre Program in Ottawa, the Banff Masterclass Program and Morningside Music Bridge where she was a finalist in the Concerto Competition and performed with the Calgary Philharmonic. She also had the opportunity to participate in the Fjord Cadenza Festival in Norway and Masterclass Al-Andalus in Spain. While at Music Academy of the West, she was accepted into the String Quartet Seminar and was mentored by the members of the Takács Quartet. She also performed with pianist Jeremy Denk and under the baton of renowned conductors such as Gustavo Dudamel and Stéphane Denève.
She received her Master of Music Degree from Carnegie Mellon University where she studied with Andrés Cárdenes and received her Bachelor of Music Degree from San Francisco Conservatory of Music with Ian Swensen. She also received a Diploma in Music Performance from Mount Royal University where she studied with William Van der Sloot and a Professional Studies Diploma from SFCM.
While attending Carnegie Mellon University, she was a member of the CMU Honours String Quartet and travelled to Doha, Qatar as cultural ambassadors. During her studies she was concertmaster of the CMU Philharmonic Orchestra, was the winner of the CMU Concerto Competition and as a violist, her string quartet won the Silberman Chamber Music Competition.
Her string trio was a first-prize recipient at the Canadian National Music Festival and she also was featured with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra with her sister Colleen performing Bach’s Concerto for Two Violins. She enjoys coaching the second violin section at the Vancouver Academy of Music Symphony Orchestra and in her spare time takes her dog Ella for hikes.