BSO and Andris Nelsons Appoint Sophie Wang as New Associate Concertmaster

The Boston Symphony Orchestra (BSO) and Music Director Andris Nelsons are pleased to announce the promotion of violinist Sophie Wang to associate concertmaster (Robert L. Beal, Enid L., and Bruce A. Beal chair, endowed in perpetuity), effective at the start of the Tanglewood season. A BSO member since 2022, Wang will also become associate concertmaster of the Boston Pops (Edward and Bertha C. Rose chair, endowed in perpetuity). She fills the vacancy left by Alexander Velinzon when he was promoted to first associate concertmaster last summer. 

As the third highest-ranking member of the first violin section, the associate concertmaster is seated in the outer seat of the second stand, behind the concertmaster and first associate concertmaster, and fills in for those positions as needed.  

A native of Irmo, South Carolina, Wang has been featured as soloist with the New England Philharmonic, South Carolina Philharmonic, and Schwob School of Music Philharmonic, and will appear with the Boston Civic Symphony in November 2025. 

Prior to joining the BSO, she was senior assistant concertmaster of the South Carolina Philharmonic and assistant principal second violin of the Columbus Symphony Orchestra. She was a Fellow of the Tanglewood Music Center and has also participated in festivals such as the International Musicians Seminar Prussia Cove, Taos School of Music, and Sarasota Music Festival. Wang holds a graduate diploma and master’s degree from New England Conservatory, as well as a bachelor’s degree from the Schwob School of Music at Columbus State University, where she was a recipient of the Woodruff Award. Her principal teachers have included Malcolm Lowe, Donald Weilerstein, Sergiu Schwartz, and William Terwilliger.