Sophie Rosa

Sophie Rosa is among Britain's most versatile violinists, performing as a soloist, chamber musician, and leader and artistic director of Sinfonia Viva. She plays mainstream Romantic repertory but has also programmed little-known works and performed with the contemporary music ensemble Psappha. Rosa was born in Cuddington, in the county of Cheshire in North West England, on May 22, 1988. Her father was a dentist, and her mother was a primary school teacher who spotted her daughter's musical talent early. Rosa took up the violin at four, studying in a Suzuki program, and by eight, she had progressed enough to play a recital for Britain's Princess Margaret and join a quartet that performed for Prince Charles. At 11, she settled on music as a career and enrolled at Chetham's School of Music and then at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester. At both institutions, her teacher was Wen Zhou Li. Several awards and scholarships helped Rosa's career along, including the first-ever High Sheriff of Cheshire's Prize for Music, and while at the RNCM, she was a BBC Young Musician of the Year strings finalist. Rosa released her debut album, Rêve d'Enfant, featuring music by Franck, Ravel, and Ysaÿe, on the Champs Hill label in 2016; her accompanist was Benjamin Powell. In addition to her work as director of Sinfonia Viva, Rosa has appeared as a soloist with major British ensembles, including the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic and the Manchester Camerata, and she is a member of the Pixels Ensemble chamber group. Rosa's recital credits include performances at such prestigious venues as the Royal Festival Hall, the Purcell Room, and Wigmore Hall. Rosa returned on recordings in 2021, joined by Ian Buckle, on the Rubicon Classics label with an album of violin sonatas by Weber, Mendelssohn, Viotti, and the almost forgotten Classical-era composer Hélène de Montgeroult. In 2023, she and Buckle released Closing Statements, a program of final works by several composers. She is a member of the faculty at Chethams's School of Music and has served as a visiting tutor at her alma mater, the Royal Northern College of Music. Rosa's projected performances in the mid-2020s included a complete performance of Bach's unaccompanied sonatas and partitas at the Lake District Summer Music Festival.
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