Getting to Know Our Stars
10 Questions for Laila Biali
Laila Biali brings her Wintersongs and Holiday classics concert to Port Moody’s Inlet Theatre this Saturday December 16th.

1. How old were you when you first started playing piano?
I was three and a half (according to my mom) when I first climbed up onto the piano bench and started plunking out the melody to Sesame Street. I started formal piano lessons in North Vancouver when I was four.
2. Who was/is your biggest musical inspiration?
I love Joni Mitchell's music so much – her storytelling, the melodies, her phrasing. There's the feeling of Jazz in what she does. I have many other favourites, too – Sting (who I've been fortunate to work with), Björk, Keith Jarrett, Bono, Bobby McFerrin. The list goes on…
3. Where do you make your home?
Toronto, but I’m originally from Vancouver and spent a lot of time in Brooklyn (7.5 years)
4. Do you have any pets?
I don’t! I love animals but I have allergies. Our 13-year-old son is obsessed with dogs, so we often go to local dog parks to “dog watch.” He especially loves the Shiba Inu breed.
5. What is the best concert/gig you have ever done?
Singing background vocals for Sting at Durham Cathedral in England (where they filmed the Harry Potter movies).
6. What is the best concert you have ever attended?
Toronto Mass Choir (they’re on my latest single, Joy to the World) performed at a local church and blew off the roof. People were dancing in the aisles. It was AMAZING.
7. Do you have an all-time favourite song or album?
I absolutely love Leonard Cohen’s Hallelujah – especially how k.d. Lang sings it. That’s my favourite song. For albums, I have many favorites: Björk’s Vespertine, Norma Winstone’s Somewhere Called Home, Earth Wind & Fire Greatest Hits, Vienna Boys Choir (for this time of year), The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill, and many more…
8. What musician would you still most like to work with?
Bono. I’d just love to talk to him about his career and the incredible humanitarian work he’s done.
9. If you weren't a musician what would you be?
A naturopath.
10. What is your favourite thing about Vancouver
The mountains and hiking!