Liana Perillo
Harpist and vocalist | melbourne, australia
artist bio
Step into a lush, immersive sound world as Melbourne-based harpist, vocalist, and composer Liana Perillo bridges classical elegance with contemporary edge. Performing on an electro-acoustic pedal harp enhanced with analogue effects, Liana expands the instrument’s voice to new realms.
With rich harp arrangements, tactile beats, soul-stirring lyrics, and layered synthesiser and strings, Liana's debut EP Impressions, envelopes the listener in music that is both calming and emotionally resonant.
In 2024, her single Temple, written in India, won Best Music for a Music Video at the Mumbai Shorts International Film Festival. In 2025, Liana was invited to tour and record new works with MONA, Museum of Old and New Art, in Tasmania.
With new music releases on the horizon, Liana will be featured live at Nexus Arts for the Adelaide Fringe Festival in 2026, followed by musical endeavours in Europe.
You can find tickets and information about Liana's upcoming live performances here.
music background
"Effortlessly beautiful" - The Voice AU
Liana is an Australian musician of Italian descent, currently based in Melbourne. Second cousin to Virgil Donati, who is widely regarded as one of the most technically advanced drummers of all time, Liana’s early exposure to music through her family lineage was diverse. Liana studied classical harp with Pamela Raines and contemporary jazz harp with Mary Doumany for over a decade.
Liana completed her Advanced Diploma of Music Performance in Contemporary Voice at Melbourne Polytechnic, and a Masters of Music Therapy at the University of Melbourne Conservatory of Music. In 2016, Liana and her fiancé, Fabian Aravalés formed their band project, Perolas. Perolas earned the award for ‘Best Intercultural Act’ at the 2019 Music Victoria Awards and were featured on ABC’s ‘Spicks and Specks’ in 2022. Their iconic performances have been showcased at some of Melbourne’s leading live music venues, including the Melbourne Recital Centre, Jazzlab and The Paris Cat. With Perolas currently on hiatus, the couple have relaunched as an electronic harp and trumpet duo under the name Sound of Arlo.
In 2023, Liana was invited to audition for 'The Voice Australia' and made it to the top 88 where she performed alongside Jessica Mauboy. Among other notable Australian artists, Liana has performed as a featuring harpist with Delta Goodrem, Conrad Sewell, Silvie Paladino and across all major Australian events including Melbourne Music Week, Melbourne Fashion Week, The Australian Open, AFL, and Spring Cup Carnival. Liana also performs regularly with the Melbourne Opera, Ministry of Sound Classical and Preston Symphony Orchestras and has recorded for various local artists including SXNCELLO, Tobi Tobi, ALETHIA, Danika Smith, and Mike Gurrieri of PBS.
In 2022, Liana was awarded an international fellowship with the International Specialised Skills Institute, George Alexander Foundation to tour Europe and learn from world leading jazz harpists, including Tara Minton. Internationally, Liana has also performed with the Australasian Harp Orchestra at the World Harp Congress in Hong Kong in 2017, and earned a scholarship with the Jazz Harp Foundation in 2018, travelling to Rio De Janeiro, Brazil for a jazz harp intensive study program.