Biography

Originally hailing from Lexington, MA, violinist Sophia Bernitz is currently freelancing in Boston, MA. In 2022, she finished her fellowship at New World Symphony, America’s Orchestral Academy, under Michael Tilson Thomas.  As an orchestral musician, she won a position in the second violin section of the New Bedford Symphony Orchestra. She has served as Concertmaster and principal second of New World, The Orchestra Now (TON), Brookline Symphony, and the Oberlin Orchestra, as well as a section member of the Boston Philharmonic. She is currently a member of the New Bedford Symphony, the Cape Cod Chamber Orchestra, and the Dubois Orchestra, and is concertmaster of the Boston Annex Players. She has served as a substitute with the Indianapolis and Jacksonville Symphonies, the Rhode Island Philharmonic, and the Cape Symphony, among others. She is also a frequent substitute in the Charleston Symphony. 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. She curated a quartet concert titled “Eurasian Folk Traditions” at New World Symphony and performed as a guest in the Wells Fargo Chamber Music Series at Spoleto Festival in 2022. She is also a member of Beacon Ensemble in Boston. 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 taught at the National Youth Orchestra 2 (NYO2) at Carnegie Hall Weill Institute in the summers of 2019 and 2022. She is also in the process of completing her Suzuki Training, as well as El Sistema training. Teaching is part of her core value as a musician.

Sophia received her Bachelor’s in violin and viola performance in 2016 from Oberlin College and Conservatory and her Master’s 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 knitting, jigsaw puzzles, playing with dogs, and watching Celtics basketball.

Teaching Philosophy

I like to think of 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 not to know what else is going on. My background as an educator is mostly based on my own personal experiences with my own professors and my life experience. My background is in Suzuki, but I always take other methods and implement them into my teaching. Student development often comes from the use of studies and technical exercises, on top of pieces, both student and teacher chosen.