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 with Joel Krosnick and Minhye Clara Kim and film study courses at Columbia.
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.
In addition, she has made solo appearances at the Berliner Philharmonie, the Tonhalle Zürich, Le Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, Cité de la Musique Gyeonggi Arts Center, La Salle François-Bernier 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 Festiival 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. Throughout her quickly blossoming career, she has also worked very closely with many contemporary dancers, including recent projects and collaborations with 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.
She is also an active social media enthusiast — and on Instagram has amassed more than 30,000 followers. Her socials are known for the visual exploration of her cellist’s life, her outrageous fashion, fanatical fitness, and love of visual art, photography and travel.
She describes herself as an “interdisciplinary artist”, “avid reader” “heath & fitness freak”, “podcast junkie” and a “wandering nomad”.
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 MMA (Mixed Martial Arts), Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and yoga for strength and fitness training.
She can also speak five languages fluently. „I’m Spanish and Chinese and I grew up hop, skip and jumping around New York, Paris, and Berlin, so I guess it just happens,“ she recently told a Spanish news outlet.
Sophia performs on a 1914 Giulio Degani cello — restored by her father, luthier Alejandro Bacelar.
VC YOUNG ARTIST SOPHIA BACELAR, JAMAII MELVIN & NOREEN POLERA | PIAZZOLLA | LE GRAND TANGO | THE VIOLIN CHANNEL VANGUARD CONCERTS | 2021
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 & NOREEN POLERA | RACHMANINOFF | CELLO SONATA IN G MINOR | 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 & GAUTIER CAPUÇON | SHOSTAKOVICH | PRELUDE | FOUNDATION LOUIS VUITTON | 2017
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
Teachers: Philippe Muller | Nicolas Altstaedt | Joel Krosnick | Minhye Clara Kim
Schools: Conservatoire de Paris | UHochschule für Musik Hanns Eisler Berlin | The Juilliard School
Website: www.sophiabacelar.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/sophiabacelar
Instagram: @sophiabacelar
The post VC YOUNG ARTIST | Cellist Sophia Bacelar — „A 21st Century Interdisciplinary Artist Destined to Leave A Very Colorful Mark“ appeared first on The World’s Leading Classical Music News Source. Est 2009..