Sonja Larson

Sonja Larson was born in Colorado, but calls Minnesota and North Dakota her home states. She is a professional musician, teacher and full-time music fan. In fact, she doesn’t really remember not playing the violin.

Sonja earned a Master of Music degree from the University of Minnesota, where she studied violin performance and pedagogy. Her teachers include Dr. Jon Rumney, the Ying Quartet and Ms. Sally O’Reilly. An active freelancer since 2006, Sonja has performed in numerous orchestras, chamber ensembles and festivals in Minnesota, New England, South Carolina and Texas. Her orchestral work includes performances with Boston Ballet, Boston Modern Orchestra Project, Rhode Island Philharmonic, Boston Landmarks Orchestra and the Masterworks Chorale. She has accompanied violinists Gil Shaham, Itzhak Perlman and Anne Akiko-Meyers, and has shared stages with Earth, Wind & Fire, Deep Purple, Kat Edmonson and Billy Gibbons of ZZ Top. In 2012, she participated in a two-month tour of the United States and Europe with the atmospheric art-rock band A Whisper in the Noise.

Since arriving in Austin, TX in 2013, Sonja has performed with the Austin Symphony, Austin Opera and Chorus Austin, and has collaborated in chamber music performances with pianist Michelle Schumann and cellist Nora Karakousoglou. Other notable Austin work includes accompanying Local Opera Local Artists (LOLA), mezzo-soprano Liz Cass’ dynamic opera company, as well as teaching and concertizing as an Artist in Residence at the beloved Armstrong Community Music School. She has also enjoyed organizing a few local house concerts.

In addition to performing, Sonja has taught students of all ages and levels since 1998. She believes that a healthy body and mind are the foundation of good music making, and therefore focuses on the student’s mental and physical relationship to the instrument in addition to guiding them through standard (and sometimes not-so-standard) repertoire and technique. She is always in pursuit of a deeper understanding of her instrument, and loves to find new examples of the violin’s ubiquity around the world and across musical genres. Learning and practicing yoga has been an exciting recent endeavor, and she’s always up for a good road trip… accompanied by an exceptional playlist, of course.

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