Violinist Livia Sohn is founder of Coast Live Music

Coast Live Music is a new non-profit in Portola Valley founded by concert violinist Livia Sohn, who first picked up the violin when she was four.

“Watching TV with my parents as a toddler, a violin appeared,” she recalls. “I watched and said, ‘that’s what I want.’ My first violin was a cracker jacks box and a ruler. Obviously no music came out of that!”

Today Livia plays on a J. B. Guadagnini violin crafted in 1770, and a Samuel Zygmuntowicz made in 2006.

In some respects, Coast Live Music was born out of tragedy. Livia lost her husband, internationally acclaimed violinist and Stanford musician Geoff Nuttall, in 2022.

“During COVID, Geoff and I had talked about creating something musical for the community,” she says. “But after he died, I just hit pause. I didn’t really want to do it by myself. My friends kept saying, ‘but you have so much in place already.’

“The local community was so amazing to me and my two boys when Geoff was sick and after he died. Eventually I started to care about things again.”

The mission of Coast Live Music is bring people together through powerful, engaging, and dynamic musical experiences. Earlier this year, that meant performing at homeless shelters and Ronald McDonald House.

“It’s about creating community through music,” says Livia. “Offering a distraction to people who may be in mental or physical pain.

Running a non-profit is new to Livia, who has performed on the international stage as concerto soloist, recitalist, and festival guest artist in North America, Europe, and Asia.

And she will continue to perform. On Thursday, May 9 Livia will be joined by Coast Live Music’s Artistic Advisor James Austin Smith for a sunset performance of baroque concerti and ensemble works at Fogarty Winery. You can purchase tickets online.

“Music is what I know and what I can do,” she says. “So I’m going to do what I can do. Running a non-profit you really have to believe in your mission. And I’m lucky enough to know people in this industry who will bring music to this community — and to people who normally don’t go to concerts.”

Photo by Dario Acosta