Sofia Yatsyuk

Born in Ukraine, Sofia Yatsyuk moved to the United Kingdom in 2006 to study at the Purcell School of Music. She completed her undergraduate degree at the Royal Academy of Music in London, under the tutelage of Mateja Marinkovic and her master’s at McGill University in Montreal with Axel Strauss. Sofia made her orchestral debut in Ukraine, with the Ternopil Symphony Orchestra in 2014 and recently performed Prokofiev’s violin concerto No.1 with the Lakeshore Symphony Orchestra in Canada. She regularly performs as a recitalist, soloist and chamber musician and has given concerts in Ukraine, Italy, Slovenia, Poland, China, Canada, France and the United Kingdom, including a performance at Giuseppe Tartini’s house in Piran and the Parliament building, Westminster, London. Sofia held a teaching position at LRMS in London, where she also taught solfeggio and worked as a chamber music/orchestral coach. In Montreal, Sofia was also on staff at the West Island Music Academy and a member of the El Sistema musical encore programme in Kahnawake. Sofia is the principal violinist of the Sinfonia de l’Ouest and a member of Orchestra Nouvelle Generation in Montreal. Over the last two years, Sofia was the winner of the Marusia Yaworska Scholarship award, winner of the Kathleen Trust Award and recipient of the Heinz Saueressig scholarship for academic excellency. She is currently a doctoral candidate in violin performance at McGill University, Schulich School of Music. Her main dissertation research is focused on women composers, striving to discover and promote music which is not receiving the recognition it deserves due to the perpetuation of discriminatory ideologies. She is working closely with the Rebecca Clarke society and other organisations with similar objectives. She is working closely with the Rebecca Clarke society and other organisations with similar objectives.