Biography

Sophia Jackson is a violinist currently based in London where she is studying at Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance. She started her musical education by learning the recorder and flute, before at the age of 7 choosing the violin, and starting to learn with Kim Van Der Kiste in Devon. During her school years she was a member of SaMMs in Totnes, Devon Youth Symphony Orchestra and Torbay Symphony Orchestra.

She began studying with Professor Ofer Falk during the covid lockdown, starting with online lessons before the restrictions were reduced, then enjoying the 412 mile round trip for face to face lessons. In 2022 she was awarded a scholarship to continue her studies with Ofer Falk at Trinity Laban Conservatoire.

Through her time at Trinity she has had the opportunity of taking part in many exciting college projects and has appeared as a section leader in both Sinfonia Strings and Trinity Laban Symphony Orchestra. One highlight project for her at Trinity Laban has been playing in the String Ensemble performance of John Tavener’s ‘The Protecting Veil’ in 2024, featuring Raphael Wallfisch as soloist and staged with dancers and lights.

Outside of London Sophia is still involved in many of the ensembles and orchestras in her local area, and in 2023 was invited back to Torbay Symphony Orchestra as Soloist to perform Mozart Violin Concerto no. 5 as part of two concerts in Totnes and Shaldon. In these performances she played one of her own cadenzas. More recently in November 2025 she performed as soloist with the Lyric Chamber Orchestra in their contemporary music concert series, playing music by Jeff Moore and Elfyn Jones.

Since living in London Sophia has had the opportunity to take part in masterclasses and lessons with many inspiring violinists from around the world, including Jennifer Pike, Stephanie Gonley, Ben Sayevich, and Zsolt-Tihamér Visontay. She has also received lessons from Ksenia Milas, Yuri Torchinsky and Marco Pedrona as part of the 2025 Lunigiana International Music Festival in Tuscany. Most recently at Trinity Laban she had the opportunity to play the second movement of the Sibelius Violin Concerto in a masterclass by violinist Maxim Vengerov.

She has a particular passion for Solo Bach, and has also taken part in Baroque Masterclasses with Elizabeth Wallfisch at Trinity Laban and Walter Reiter as part of the London International Festival of Early Music. In 2025 she won the Vera Kantrovich Prize for Solo Strings playing the Bach Solo Violin Sonata in A Minor adjudicated by Peter Manning, and in the same year she won the Vivien Joseph Classical Concerto Competition adjudicated by Tasmin Little. 

She currently plays on a Guarneri model violin made by Jeremie Legrand in 2019