Sophia Zhou (Milbrook, NY)
Piano
New-York-based pianist Shuhui (Sophia) Zhou has been performing as a soloist and chamber musician internationally in the Royal Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, Carnegie Weil Concert Hall, the National Sawdust in New York City, Kennedy Center in Washington D.C., Shanghai Concert Hall, etc. She is the winner of the V BPA International Piano Award of Barcelona and completed a critically acclaimed concert tour across Spain.
As an avid collaborative musician, her recital partners include members of New York Philharmonic, Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, the Metropolitan Opera House, HK Philharmonic Orchestra and Shanghai Symphony Orchestra.
Sophia is passionate about music across genres and styles. She has recorded and premiered works by living composers such as Thomas ades, Benjamin Broeming, and Alexander Goehr. She has worked extensively as a vocal pianist with Brooklyn Art Song Society, Mannes Opera, Bare Opera, Classical Lyrical Arts in Italy, to name a few. She was a fellow with Bach Institute in 2016, and performs with Emmanuel Music in Boston and Mannes Baroque Ensemble in New York City on harpsichord and chamber organ.
Born and raised in Shanghai, Sophia was offered full scholarship by Oberlin College as the first double-degree Bachelor student from China, majoring in Piano Performance and German literature. She continued her studies in Vienna, Austria with Dr. Jan Jiracek von Arnim in University of Music and Performing Arts, as well as musicology with Dr. Morten Solvic, renowned Mahler scholar based in Vienna. Sophia frequently performs and further her studies in European summer festivals, working with renowned pianists and pedagogues from Germany, England, France, Italy and Spain.
Sophia is currently a graduate fellow in Bard Conservatory of Music, assisting the Graduate Vocal Program and serving as a secondary piano instructor. She has been on faculty staff in Wilton Music Studios in Wilton, CT and Hoff-Barthelson Music School in Scarsdale, NY. She enjoys working with students ranging from absolute beginner to young professionals, as well as whoever wants to explore the joy of music and the art of piano playing.
In her spare time, Sophia loves practicing yoga, listening to French chansons, programming new concert ideas, and working on a translation project of Jan Swafford’s Brahms biography from English to Chinese, to be published in 2025.