Sofia De martis
I was born in Trieste (Italy) in 2005 and started my violin studies at the age of 7 years old. In my family there are no musicians apart from me but my parents always shared a profound love for classical music so I was born listening a lot to it, eventually leading me to ask my parents if I could take violin lessons. Since then I never parted from the instrument.
At the age of 16, I began my first-level academic studies at the G. Tartini Conservatory of Music in Trieste in Maestro Sinead Nava's class, and in 2025 I graduated with top marks, honours and a special mention.
Since 2022, I have been studying under Maestro Ilya Grubert in Portogruaro (Venice), and in the 2024/25 academic year I moved to Amsterdam to continue my studies at Conservatorium van Amsterdam in Maestro Ilya Grubert's class.
From 2021 to 2024, I attended the annual masterclass led by Maestro Yulia Berinskaya in Milan.
I have won numerous first prizes in international competitions, including the 'Concorso Musicale Internazionale Città di Palmanova', where I was awarded the UNESCO Prize in the Soloists category in the 2025 edition and in the Chamber Music category as part of a duo with Matteo Di Bella in the 2024 edition. I was a semi-finalist in the 2023 edition of the 'Città di Vittorio Veneto Violin Competition' and was awarded First Prize at the 2025 'Todi Città del Violino' competition organised by Consolazione ETAB, securing a two-year loan of a precious 1780 Giuseppe Odoardi violin.
I began my solo career with the Orchestra of the Teatro Lirico G. Verdi in Trieste, conducted by Maestro Federico M. Sardelli; I have performed with the Città di Monfalcone Philharmonic Orchestra, the FVG Symphony Orchestra, the FVG Chamber Orchestra and the Ferruccio Busoni Chamber Orchestra, and with I Musici di Parma at various editions of the 'Salso Summer Festival' in Salsomaggiore Terme; in the summer of 2023, I performed as one of the Nuovi Concertisti at the 'Portogruaro International Music Festival'.
In February 2026, I performed in the Grote Zaal of the Concertgebouw theatre in Amsterdam, playing Mendelssohn's Concerto in E minor, accompanied by the CvA Symphony Orchestra.
In 2026, I was awarded a 1743 Carlo Antonio Testore violin, generously loaned to me by the Nationaal Muziekinstrumenten Fonds (NMF, Netherlands).
I feel incredibly fortunate to have been trusted with such remarkable instrument, and I look forward to continuing to grow as an artist, carrying its voice and its history onto the stages I hope to reach in the years to come.
