Boston-native Sophia Bernitz just finished her fellowship at New World Symphony, America’s Orchestral academy, under music director and creator Michael Tilson Thomas. She looks forward to starting her freelancing career in the Greater Boston area in fall of 2022. As an orchestral musician, she has served as Concertmaster and principal second of New World, The Orchestra Now (TON) and the Oberlin Orchestra, as well as a section member of Boston Philharmonic and a substitute with Indianapolis, Jacksonville, Kansas City and Charleston Symphony Orchestras. Summer festivals attended include Spoleto Festival U.S.A, Festival Napa Valley, NRO, Brevard, Oberlin-in-Italy, and the Fellowship Quartet Program at Madeline Island. 

As a chamber musician, Sophia has worked and performed with the Borromeo, Pacifica, Dover, Muir, Cavani, Jupiter, and Miro quartets. Most recently, she made her debut with Jamaica Plain Chamber Music in Boston, as well as a curating a quartet concert entitled “Eurasian Folk Traditions” at New World Symphony, and playing as a guest in the Wells Fargo Chamber Music Series at Spoleto Festival. Her most influential coaches have been Merry Peckham, Darrett Adkins, and Peter Slowik. She spent most of her childhood attending Kinhaven Music School, where she first fell in love with chamber music. 

She received her BM in violin and viola performance in 2016 from Oberlin College and Conservatory and her masters in violin performance in 2018 from New England Conservatory. Her principal violin teachers have included Kristopher Tong, David Bowlin, Peter Zazofsky, and Carlough Faulkner-Carroll. In a past life, she was a nationally ranked competitive figure skater. In her spare time, she enjoys jigsaw puzzles, knitting, playing with dogs and singing.