1^st lesson free

Sophia

Rate $132
Response 9h
Students
Number of students Sophia has accompanied since arriving at Superprof
12
Number of students Sophia has accompanied since arriving at Superprof

$132/h

1^st lesson free

Violin
Viola

Graduate of Oberlin Conservatory and New England Conservatory and former violin fellow at New World Symphony- over 5 years of teaching experience in all age groups. Currently in Boston area.

Violin
Viola

Lesson location

- online

About Sophia

Sophia Bernitz is a Boston- based freelance violinist and violist as of Fall 2022. In May 2022, she completed her fellowship at New World Symphony, America’s Orchestral Academy, under music director Michael Tilson Thomas. She hails originally from Lexington, Massachusetts.

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 members of the Borromeo, Pacifica, Dover, Muir, Cavani, Jupiter, and Miro quartets. Most recently, she curated a quartet concert entitled “Eurasian Folk Traditions” at New World Symphony, and played 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.
As an educator, she has trained taught at National Youth Orchestra 2 (NYO2) at Carnegie Hall Weill Institute in the summers of 2019 and 2022. She also is in the process of getting her Suzuki Certification, as well as El Sistema training. Teaching is part of her core value as a musician, teaching students of all ages.
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. She also enjoys jigsaw puzzles, knitting, playing with dogs and singing.

About the lesson

I like to think about a teacher as being both a teacher of an instrument as well as a life mentor. Lessons should be a safe space for people of all ages to open up some about what's going on in their lives. Art is so personal that I feel it's negligent to not know what else is going on.

I think goals, both musically and otherwise, are incredibly important and should be personalized. Performance is fundamental but not to the point of traumatizing a student. A healthy push in the right direction is key, but the most important thing is well-being. I feel that it is very important to have musical excellence almost equal to the excellence of human well-being. Some of us grew up learning perfection at all cost, but I don't believe that's healthy for today’s children. I value setting goals together along with checking in with the parents to make sure that we are together for this journey.

As for specific violin teaching, I prioritize posture, relaxation, and musicality as my big three. Setting people up to not get injured in the future is key. Listening is also very important- weekly listening assignments go a long way in finding role models, preferred composers and personal style/preference. As a Suzuki-raised kid, listening and singing is what I find is the most helpful in the development of musicality. I teach with an emphasis on ease, sound production and continued musical growth. As the students develop, etudes, scales and studies are very important alongside performance pieces of different varieties.

Rates

Rate

$132

Pack rates

5 h: $659
10 h: $1318

travel fee

+ $15

free lessons

This first lesson offered with Sophia will allow you to get to know each other and clearly specify your needs for your next lessons.

1hrs

online

$125/h

Details

Rates can change based on numerous factors.

Graduate of Oberlin Conservatory and New England Conservatory and former violin fellow at New World Symphony- over 5 years of teaching experience in all age groups. Currently in Boston area.

Lesson location

About Sophia

About the lesson

Rates

Rate

Pack rates

travel fee

free lessons

online

Details

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Graduate of Oberlin Conservatory and New England Conservatory and former violin fellow at New World Symphony- over 5 years of teaching experience in all age groups. Currently in Boston area.

Lesson location

About Sophia

About the lesson

Rates

Rate

Pack rates

travel fee

free lessons

online

Details

Other tutors in Violin

Yuliia

Luna

Mauve

Blerina

Saba

Oleg

Martin

Martina

Leslie

Artur

Ehsan

Alban

Carmen

David

Luke

Brenna

Parand

Elodie

Anthony

Alison

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