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ARTIST OF THE MONTH

September Artist of the Month: Musical

Sophie Benn

Sophie Benn enjoys a multifaceted career as a musicologist, cellist, and educator. She
has been hailed for her “brilliant technical prowess” (ClevelandClassical.com), and in
2019 was named one of moCa Cleveland’s New Agents, a group of 52 “experimenters,
catalysts, and change-makers, who are pushing Cleveland forward right now.”
A tireless advocate for new music, she is a founding Co-Director of Cleveland Uncommon
Sound Project (CUSP), a presenting organization for experimental contemporary
musicians and sound artists. CUSP also spearheads Re:Sound, a four-day festival
dedicated to avant-garde musical expression. In 2018, she served as one of the principal
cellists of the Lucerne Festival Academy Orchestra in Switzerland and on tour. Sophie
has played with numerous contemporary music groups, including Ars Futura and
FiveOne Experimental Orchestra, and has premiered work in both the United States and
Canada. She has worked with Joel Sachs, Miranda Cuckson, and Marc Ponthus, as well
as members of the International Contemporary Ensemble (ICE), Alarm Will Sound,
Yarn/Wire, and the Kronos Quartet.
Sophie is the principal cellist of the chamber orchestra CityMusic Cleveland, and has
made concerto appearances with the ensemble. She also performs as a baroque cellist,
having worked closely with Jaap ter Linden, Julie Andrijeski, and Debra Nagy, and
appearing in masterclasses for Malcom Bilson and Paul O’Dette. Drawing on a childhood
spent in the ballet studio, she has also performed as a baroque dancer in productions of
Hippolyte et Aricie, Dido and Aeneas and Acis and Galatea.
Sophie is currently a PhD Candidate (ABD) in Musicology at Case Western Reserve
University. In her academic work, she studies notation and the performing body around
1900.
For more, please visit www.sophiebenn.com

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