Sophia Rahman
Upcoming concerts:
A musical revolution from the classical to the romantic
Wednesday 19th Feb, 7:30pm
Christ Church, Silchester Road, St Leonards on Sea, TN37 6GL
This concert features chamber music at its best, and a journey from the height of the classical period in Mozart’s G minor piano quartet, to one of Beethoven’s best loved cello sonatas, the A major, and into the early romanticism of Schumann’s glorious piano quartet.
Sophia Rahman – piano
Max Baillie – violin
Maxim Rysanov – viola
Dora Kokas – cello
Mozart G minor piano quartet k478
Beethoven A major cello sonata no 3 op. 69
Schumann Piano Quartet op 47
Whittington “Wondrous May” Festival 2025
Known for her ‘supreme chamber-musical responsiveness’ – The Arts Desk, pianist Sophia Rahman frequently champions the work of under-represented composers. Sophia made the first UK recording of Florence Price’s piano concerto, for broadcast on BBC Radio 3 with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales. She has made several discs of the work of female composers such as Rebecca Clarke and Dorothy Howell, her recordings of Howell’s works featuring in several episodes of BBC Radio 3’s Composer of the Week. Together with duo partner Andres Kaljuste, Sophia is committed to performing newly commissioned and undiscovered Estonian repertoire alongside the music of the celebrated Arvo Pärt, with whom the duo has enjoyed a long working association. The duo’s first disc of violin and piano music of Pärt’s composition teacher Heino Eller, recorded at the Arvo Pärt Centre, was released in 2024 to critical acclaim, and they have premiered a cluster of viola and piano works written/arranged especially for them, notably by Tõnu Kõrvits, Rasmus Puur and Mingo Rajandi.
Sophia has toured extensively, appearing at top festivals like Gstaad, IMS Prussia Cove, Kuhmo and Pärnu, and collaborating with world-class musicians including Klaus Mäkelä, Augustin Hadelich and Steven Isserlis. As Artistic Director of Whittington Music Festival Sophia has worked with distinguished singers Mark Padmore and Roderick Williams and mentored some of the brightest instrumental and vocal talents of the new generation.
Sophia has played for Steven Isserlis’ class at IMS Prussia Cove since 2011, where she has also worked with Atar Arad, Kim Kashkashian, Thomas Riebl, Hartmut Rohde and Steven Doane. Her interest in this work originated as a class pianist for the legendary cellist and teacher William Pleeth at the BrittenPears School. After attending the Yehudi Menuhin School, Sophia took a firstclass honours degree in English from King’s College, London, completing postgraduate studies at the Royal Academy of Music and winning the Royal Overseas League’s collaborative and chamber music piano awards in consecutive years.
David Nice writes in I’ll Think of Something Later: “The best Bartók Contrasts I ever expect to hear.”