Sophia Hwang is a seventeen year old cellist who attends The Spence School in New York, New York. Sophia began playing the cello at the age of nine. She currently studies with Nicole Johnson at the Manhattan School of Music Precollege Division where she is a part of the Precollege Symphony Orchestra and a member of a piano quartet in its chamber music program. She has also performed as a part of the Camerata Orchestra and a member of a flute quintet in the Chamber Music Center of New York program. Sophia participated in the St. Paul Chamber Music Institute in the summer of 2023 where she worked and performed directly with members of the Jasper Quartet. Sophia won 1st Prize in the VIVO International Music Competition in the Spring of 2023 and 1st Prize with a Jury’s Pick Award from the East Coast International Competition in 2022. She also won the Platinum Prize in both the Carl Reinecke International Music Competition and Berlioz International Music Competition Young Artist Divisions along with the Excellent Technique Special Prize and Emotional Artistry Special Prize in 2024. This year, Sophia was accepted to the Boston University Tanglewood Institute Young Artists Orchestra program where she plans to further her musical education.
You can find Sophia’s 2024 Spring Music Competition cello performance here.