Sophia Szokolay

 Canadian violinist Sophia Anna Szokolay is a Doctoral Candidate at the New England Conservatory where she serves as Donald Weilerstein’s teaching assistant. Lauded for her “stirring, singing” tone (Vineyard Gazette), Sophia has won top prizes and awards at international competitions and has performed across Canada, the United States, and Europe as a recitalist and chamber musician.

Equally at home with chamber and orchestral repertoire, Sophia plays with the Cape Cod Chamber Orchestra, Palaver Strings, Delirium Musicum, and Phoenix Chamber Orchestra, led by music director Joshua Weilerstein. Her passion for new music has led her to work with notable living composers and to give many premieres, including the North American premiere of Widmann’s String Quartet No. 7, the world premiere of Sid Richardson’s “Tide Tiding Time” at Jordan Hall, and most recently James Lee III’s third string quartet, “Untranslatable” at the Ravinia Festival, commissioned in honor of Miriam Fried’s 30 years as director of the Steans Institute.

Sophia has held Teaching and Community Engagement Fellowships 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.

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.

Sophia’s hobbies include photography and distance running.