Photo taken by Decoro Images.
Going Electric
On February 15, 2017, after an especially brutal day at her music conservatory, Brianna made the decision to drop out of school, move to North Carolina, and start life anew. In late 2018, she was gifted an electric cello and a loop pedal. This was the moment that Brianna finally found the expressive outlet she had spent her entire youth searching for. Brianna's personality traits that were seen as flaws in her classical career (namely her spontaneity) could now be used as strengths in her electric career.
Between 2019-2020, Brianna spent her time learning how to play the cello standing up, how to craft her art of improvisatory live-looping, and how to behave in a non-classical performance. During this growth period, Brianna decided to briefly dabble in the professional classical music scene, securing the position as Principal Cellist of the Spartanburg Philharmonic, as well as Assistant Principal Cellist of the Fayetteville Symphony Orchestra.
Towards the end of 2020, Brianna decided that she was ready to try her hand at growing and managing her own music career.
Her first task was to release her music to the world. In February of 2021, Brianna released her debut album, Growth, an emotional all-cello, loop-inspired album, featuring entirely original works. Creating the album marked a major milestone for Brianna as it required her to overcome her deeply-ingrained fear of composing, a fear that haunted her from her classical training.
The Scoop
Layer by layer, Los Angeles-based electric cellist Brianna Tam uses her bare feet on her loop station in order to envelop captivated listeners in her epic symphonic experience. Her gift of building and illustrating worlds through sound is exhibited in her multi-faceted career as a composer, performer, and recording artist.
Pre-Electric
As a child, Brianna was drawn towards the piano, but unlike many Asian-American children, she was not granted with piano lessons. Her interest in music then remained dormant until she was eight-years old, when she accidentally missed her school's deadline to sign up for violin lessons, and got stuck on the cello instead.
Though her intuition and passion were both evident from the get-go, Brianna was pressured into following a traditional, classical cello career. She competed in concerto competitions, performed with world-class musicians, and briefly attended a highly competitive music conservatory.
However, what wasn't seen to the public eye was the hours Brianna would spend watching Apocalyptica's Metallica covers and writing cello arrangements of her favorite tunes. What was also hidden was Brianna's growing misery of competing in an aimless field in which one's worth is measured by their ability to cover the 1800s' greatest hits.
Photo taken by Decoro Images.
Life Today
Over time, Brianna has cultivated a multi-faceted career as a performer, composer, and producer. She traveled and moved often, searching for a home for herself and her music. In early 2024, she packed her car and drove from Georgia to California, determined to set down roots in Los Angeles.
Both before and after this transition, Brianna has shared her music across a variety of mediums, balancing her life as both a performer and composer. Her ability to build and illustrate worlds through sound has made her a trusted collaborator among filmmakers, with her score for the feature film Wild Fire winning “Best Soundtrack” at the 2023 Red Dirt Film Festival. She has also composed for the biopic Healing Waters (2022), the game The Gold Crow (2022), and numerous short and feature films, including Rescued Hearts (2024).
Brianna’s intimate yet enthralling one-woman performances have led to a diverse array of opportunities, from a mesmerizing TEDx Talk in North Carolina to an electrifying Metallica-cover concert in Florida and an enchanting private performance for Dr. Gary Chapman. Since moving to Los Angeles, she has become a regular performer at Tea at Shiloh and will soon take the stage at a space-related event with Freethink Media. Her artistry has also been recognized by Artlist, which featured her in a documentary-style video showcasing her journey and creative process. She was selected as a Top Shelf performer for NPR’s 2023 Tiny Desk Contest and was awarded a grant through the National Endowment for the Arts and the North Carolina Arts Council to conduct an Artist Residency in Blowing Rock, NC.
Brianna invests deeply in every project she takes on, recognizing the immense trust that filmmakers place in her to help bring their stories to life. She treats each score as an extension of the film’s soul, ensuring that her music not only supports but elevates the storytelling. She also values the people behind the projects, advocating for fairness and respect for everyone involved in the creative process.
The Big Picture
Brianna's goal is to build worlds through her music so that listeners can experience feelings and ideas that can't be explained through words alone. By evoking such feelings, Brianna hopes to encourage listeners to be vulnerable with themselves, and thereby promote a lifestyle of wholeheartedness and authenticity.