VC YOUNG ARTIST | Cellist Sophia Bacelar — "A 21st Century Artist Destined to Leave Her Own Very Colorful Mark"
The 25-year-old Cuban-Chinese-American cello soloist will make her Carnegie Hall recital debut on December 8th — as the recipient of The Juilliard School's coveted Leo B. Ruiz Recital Prize
A graduate of The Juilliard School Pre-College, the Conservatoire de Paris and the Hochschule für Musik Hanns Eisler Berlin, where she studied with Minhye Clara Kim, Philippe Muller and Nicolas Altstaedt, Sophia is currently a candidate of the Artist Diploma Program at The Juilliard School and Columbia University, in New York City, as a Celia Ascher Full-Scholarship Fellow — studying cello performance at Juilliard with Minhye Clara Kim and film studies at Columbia University.
She also worked in recent years under the mentorship of French cellist Gautier Capuçon as a laureate of the Louis Vuitton Foundation “Classe d’Excellence de Violoncelle”. The specialized program allowed her to take part in six public masterclasses and concerts with her mentor — which were broadcast internationally on Medici.tv and Radio France.
VC YOUNG ARTIST SOPHIA BACELAR & GAUTIER CAPUÇON | SHOSTAKOVICH | PRELUDE | FOUNDATION LOUIS VUITTON | 2017
In addition, she has made solo appearances at the Berliner Philharmonie, the Tonhalle Zürich, Le Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, Cité de la Musique, Victoria Hall, St. Martin-In-The-Fields, The Chicago Cultural Center, and Alice Tully Hall. She has also performed at international festivals, including The Kronberg Academy Cello Festival, The Seiji Ozawa International Academy, The Piatigorsky International Cello Festival, and Festival Napa Valley.
Sophia also has a strong conviction for integrating classical music and the cello with visual art, film, photography, and fashion, which is often seen in many of her performances, and she has been dressed by and collaborated with various luxury brands including Harry Winston, Pomellato, Salvatore Ferragamo, Morgane le Fay, and Alexis Bittar.
Throughout her quickly blossoming career, she has also worked very closely with many contemporary dancers, including recent projects and collaborations with dancers and choreographers from the American Ballet Theater, San Francisco Ballet, Sacramento Ballet, and the Atlanta Ballet. She also regularly collaborates with the San Francisco-based queer ballet troupe Ballet22 — whose focus is on breaking dance’s ingrained gender identity, body type, and race normative traditions — and in 2019 she founded the cello/dance ensemble Duo Femaura.
She was also recently invited to perform with dancer Jamaii Melvin and pianist Noreen Polera in the opening season of The Violin Channel Vanguard Concert Series.
VC YOUNG ARTIST SOPHIA BACELAR, JAMAII MELVIN & NOREEN POLERA | PIAZZOLLA | LE GRAND TANGO | THE VIOLIN CHANNEL VANGUARD CONCERTS | 2021
VC YOUNG ARTIST SOPHIA BACELAR & NOREEN POLERA | RACHMANINOFF CELLO SONATA IN G MINOR | 3RD MVT | THE VIOLIN CHANNEL VANGUARD CONCERTS | 2021
Sophia is also an active social media enthusiast — and on Instagram has amassed more than 28,000 followers. Her social posts known for the visual exploration of her musician's life, her outrageous fashion, fanatical fitness, and love of visual art, photography and travel.
She describes herself as an “interdisciplinary artist”, “avid reader” “health & fitness freak”, “podcast junkie” and a “wandering nomad”.
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In 2018, she was also appointed as an official GEWA Music Artist, in Germany, and designed a distinctive hand-drawn GEWA Air cello case — which has now become her widely recognized signature piece.
She is also an Artist Ambassador for The GRAMMY Music Education Coalition and trains most days in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and Muay Thai, as well as weightlifting, yoga and strength and fitness training.
Sophia speaks English, Spanish, Mandarin, French, and German. "I was raised by Cuban and Chinese parents and grew up hopping around between New York, Paris, and Berlin, so I guess I inevitably picked up a few things," she recently told a Spanish news outlet.
She performs on a 1914 Giulio Degani cello and Eugène Nicolas Sartory bow — restored by her father, luthier Alejandro Bacelar.
VC YOUNG ARTIST SOPHIA BACELAR, JAMAII MELVIN & NOREEN POLERA | PIAZZOLLA | OBLIVION | THE VIOLIN CHANNEL VANGUARD CONCERTS | 2021
VC YOUNG ARTIST SOPHIA BACELAR & NOREEN POLERA | CHOPIN | NOCTURNE | THE VIOLIN CHANNEL VANGUARD CONCERTS | 2021
VC YOUNG ARTIST SOPHIA BACELAR & NOREEN POLERA | RIMSKY-KORSAKOV | CAPTURED BY THE NIGHTINGALE | THE VIOLIN CHANNEL VANGUARD CONCERTS | 2021
VC YOUNG ARTIST SOPHIA BACELAR & JAMAII MELVIN | BACH | CELLO SUITE NO. 1 IN G MAJOR | PRELUDE | THE VIOLIN CHANNEL VANGUARD CONCERTS | 2021
VC YOUNG ARTIST SOPHIA BACELAR & DANIELA HLIN | RACHMANINOFF | VOCALISE | BERLIN PHILHARMONIE | 2017
VC YOUNG ARTIST SOPHIA BACELAR | BACH | CELLO SUITE NO. 6 IN D MAJOR | PRELUDE | 2017
VC YOUNG ARTIST SOPHIA BACELAR & DANIELA HLIN | DEBUSSY CELLO SONATA | BERLIN PHILHARMONIE | 2017
VC YOUNG ARTIST SOPHIA BACELAR & DANIELA HLIN | FRANK BRIDGE CELLO SONATA | BERLIN PHILHARMONIE | 2017
Cello: 1914 Giulio Degani
Bow: Eugène Nicolas Sartory Bow
Teachers: Philippe Muller | Nicolas Altstaedt | Joel Krosnick | Minhye Clara Kim
Schools: Conservatoire de Paris | Hochschule für Musik Hanns Eisler Berlin | The Juilliard School
Website: www.sophiabacelar.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/sophiabacelar
Instagram: @sophiabacelar
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