Sophie Kastner is a composer and vocalist currently located in Montreal. As a vocalist, she sees an inherent link between music and text; for her, even when purely instrumental, music has always told a story. Her fascination with English literature has influenced many of her works, such as her Orchestra piece, The Hunter, which is based on a short story by Olive Schreiner. Literature continues to be a source of inspiration; her current project, All Things Lovely, is a chamber opera exploring the romantic relationship between Virginia Woolf and her literary contemporary Vita Sackville-West. She is working with Montreal-based librettist and playwright Alice Abracen. The first scene of the opera was workshopped by the New Voices Opera of Indiana University this past December. 

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Her song cycle, Blue Wings: a cycle of five songs on an existential theme, will be premiered on March 28th at the Vivier InterUniversitaire Concert by Soprano, Anna Atkinson and Pianist, Rebecca Klassen-Wiebe. In March of 2020, her string quartet, Waves, was premiered at the McGill Association of Student Composers (MASC) concert. The Hunter received its premiere in March 2019 by the Skidmore College Orchestra.

 

Sophie is currently pursuing a master’s degree in composition at McGill University, studying with Melissa Hui. Originally from New York State, she earned her Bachelor’s degree at Skidmore College where she studied composition with Evan Mack and voice with Sylvia Stoner-Hawkins. She has written works for voice, choir, wind quintet, string quartet, piano, and orchestra.