ABOUT
violinist
Sophia szokolay
Canadian violinist Sophia Anna Szokolay is a Doctoral Candidate at the New England Conservatory and teaching assistant to Donald Weilerstein. Lauded for her “stirring, singing” tone by the Vineyard Gazette, Sophia is a recipient of top prizes and awards at international competitions, and performs across Canada, the United States, and Europe as a recitalist and chamber musician.
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Highlights from the 23/24 season include Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto with the Narragansett Bay Symphony, principal second violin with Colorado MahlerFest, and premieres of works by György Kurtág, Sid Richardson, and Mehmet Ali Sanlıkol. This summer, Sophia will return to the Ravinia and Four Seasons chamber music festivals.
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As a soloist, Sophia has performed with orchestras across the US Northeast, Canada, and Hungary, including A Far Cry, Boston Philharmonic Youth Orchestra, GyÅ‘r Philharmonic, Scarborough Philharmonic, and Toronto Sinfonietta. Sophia regularly performs with the Cape Cod Chamber Orchestra, Delirium Musicum, Palaver Strings, and Phoenix Chamber Orchestra, led by music director Joshua Weilerstein. Her passion for new music has led her to work with composers Brett Dean, David Ludwig, James MacMillan, Shulamit Ran, Wolfgang Rihm, and Jörg Widmann. In 2021, she gave the North American premiere of Widmann’s String Quartet No. 7 at YellowBarn.
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Sophia was a Teaching and Community Engagement Fellow at The Juilliard School where she worked with violin and music theory students at Opportunity Music Project and at Thurgood Marshall Academy Lower School. In 2020, she performed online for ICU Covid-19 patients and their families across the United States with Project: Music Heals Us. She curated an online Music and Movement class for toddlers, and led music appreciation workshops at Lenox Hill Women’s Shelter.
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Sophia received her Bachelor of Music degree from the New England Conservatory with a Minor in Music Theory, and her Master’s Degree from Juilliard. Her teachers include Catherine Cho, Miriam Fried, and Donald Weilerstein.
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Sophia’s passions include photography and distance running. She recently qualified for the 2025 Boston Marathon.