Sophia Jean is a second-year M.M. candidate at the Yale School of Music where she is a student of Tara Helen O’Connor. A passionate orchestral musician, Sophia has attended numerous festivals including the Music Academy of the West (2022 Flute Fellow), Aspen Music Festival (2024 Piccolo Fellow, 2023 New Horizons Fellow), and Kent Blossom Music Festival (2021 Fellow). This past year, Sophia has performed as a substitute musician with the New York Philharmonic and the West Point Band. 

Sophia is a laureate of numerous competitions and was recently named first place winner of the 2024 NFA Young Artist Competition, also receiving the Paul Taub Award for Best Performance of the Newly Commissioned Work. Previously, Sophia was named first place winner of both Chicago Flute Club’s 2023 Kujala International Piccolo Competition and 2023 Donald Peck Flute Competition. Sophia also received honorable mention in the 2024 Sphinx Orchestral Partners Audition (SOPA) Competition, was a finalist for the 2023 Chicago Women’s Club of Musicians Senior Nerenberg Competition and was a semifinalist for Music Academy’s 2022 Duo Competition. 

Sophia graduated from Northwestern University in December 2022, where she pursued a dual degree in Flute Performance and Cognitive Science. At Northwestern she studied flute with John Thorne, and piccolo with Jennifer Gunn and Alyce Johnson. Sophia is originally from Lakeland, Florida, where she attended Harrison School for the Arts and performed as principal in the Harrison Symphony Orchestra, studying with Barbara Jacobson. 

Outside of performing, Sophia is a teaching artist for the Yale Music in Schools Initiative Program (MISI), where she regularly serves as a mentor for New Haven public school students. Her love of teaching continues from her time at Northwestern, where she was involved as a volunteer for the Academy of Music and Arts for Special Education (AMASE), eventually taking on roles as Co-Curriculum Director and Community Engagement Director.