Cellist Sophie Shao is an Avery Fisher Career Grant recipient, a major prizewinner at the 2001 Rostropovich Competition, and a laureate of the XII Tchaikovsky Competition in 2002. She has given world premiere performances at Howard Shore's Mythic Gardens, Richard Wilson's Concerto for Cello and Mezzo-Soprano, appeared as a soloist with the BBC Concert Orchestra and Keith Lockhart, and presented the six Bach Suites in one afternoon at Union College, Schenectady. She can be heard on EMI Classics, Bridge Records, Albany Records, and a double-CD set of the Bach Cello Suites. Ms. Shao studied at The Curtis Institute with David Soyer and at Yale University, receiving a B.A. in Religious Studies from Yale College and a M.M. from the Yale School of Music. Ms. Shao plays on an Honore Derazey cello previously owned by Pablo Casals and is a former member of Chamber Music Society Two.
