Sophie Shao
Assistant Principal
American
Was winner of top prizes at the 2001 Rostropovich Competition and the XII Tchaikovsky Competition in 2002. Ms. Shao received the Avery Fisher Career Grant at the age of 19, and made her first appearance with The Houston Symphony at the age of 11. Other orchestral appearances include L'Orchestre de Paris and The Russian State Academic Symphony Cappella, among others. She has performed throughout the United States, Europe, and Asia, appearing in such venues as The 92nd Street Y, Carnegie, Avery Fisher, Alice Tully, and Merkin Halls in New York; Suntory Hall in Tokyo; Heinz Hall in Pittsburgh; and Ford Centre in Toronto. Ms. Shao has collaborated with members of The Beaux Arts Trio; The Guarneri, Juilliard, Orion, Cleveland, Mendelssohn String Quartets; and has performed with such distinguished artists as Gary Graffman, David Shifrin, Andre Previn, Andras Schiff, Ani Kavafian, Andre Watts, and Christoph Eschenbach. She was a member of Chamber Music Society Two, The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center's program for emerging young artists, and continues to be a regular guest at The Chamber Music Society. A graduate of The Curtis Institute and Yale University, Ms. Shao teaches cello at The Bard College Conservatory of Music, Vassar College, and Princeton University. She can be heard on EMI Classics, Bridge Records, and Albany Records.