Sophie Solomon

Sophie Solomon
Sophie Solomon performing in Cambridge, March 2006
Background information
Origin	London, England, United Kingdom
Genres	Classical
Years active	2006–present
Labels	Decca

Sophie Solomon (born 6 June 1978) is a British violinist, songwriter and composer who fuses many different musical influences into her music. She is also Artistic Director of the Jewish Music Institute, SOAS (University of London).

Solomon began playing the violin at the age of two. At four she met Yehudi Menuhin and was taken to see the great cellist Mstislav Rostropovich. For the first five years she played totally by ear, learning to read music at the age of seven.

Even though the National Children's Orchestra and ProCorda heralded her as one of the most promising violinists of her generation, Solomon "was never completely satisfied by the classical world alone, I felt constrained by the fact that the music was written down and the strict parameters of the repertoire. I felt I had to step outside of that and find my own voice."

She was one of Bell's Belles who campaigned for Martin Bell during his successful attempt to be elected MP for Tatton in the 1997 general election.

She studied at Cheltenham Ladies' College, and later at University College, Oxford (University of Oxford) graduating in 1999 with a First Class degree in Modern History and Russian. She also holds an MSc in Economic History from the London School of Economics.

During her time at Oxford, Solomon spent a year living in Russia, where she had a residency DJing Ragga jungle music at Kitai Gorod's Propaganda nightclub. Solomon developed a passion for the traditional musics of Eastern Europe especially klezmer and gypsy styles and travelled widely in the region, absorbing new sounds and influences along the way. This led to her becoming a founder member of Oi Va Voi who were described as "one of the most exciting bands in Britain today" by The Daily Telegraph. It was with this band that she rediscovered her love for the violin.