Sofya Vardanyan

Sofya Vardanyan is a violinist from Yerevan, Armenia, currently based in Vienna, where she is pursuing her Master’s studies at the Music and Arts Private University of the City of Vienna (MUK). 

Born into a family of musicians, Sofya began playing the violin at age 7. She studied at Tchaikovsky Specialized Secondary School of Music in Yerevan before continuing her education in Germany at Detmold University of Music with Prof. Maria-Elisabeth Lott. As of 2026, she is studying at MUK in Vienna under the guidance of Prof. Boris Brovtsyn and Prof. Pavel Vernikov. 

Sofya has participated in numerous international festivals and academies, including Yerevan International Music Festival, Perlman Chamber Music Workshop (U.S.), Kronberg Academy Masterclasses (Germany), Moritzburg Festival (Germany), Dachstein Dialoge Festival (Austria), Blaricum Music Festival (Netherlands), Budapest Festival Academy (Hungary), Prussia Cove International Musicians Seminar (UK), and Sion Festival (Switzerland), among others. 

She has taken part in masterclasses with distinguished musicians such as Kim Kashkashian, Frank Peter Zimmermann, Pinchas Zukerman, Sergey Krylov, Vadim Repin, Daishin Kashimoto, Ani and Ida Kavafians, Diemut Poppen, Levon Chilingirian, and Joseph Rissin and others.

During the 2024-25 season, Sofya was selected to participate in the Orchestre des Champs-Élysées Academy in Cagliari and joined the orchestra’s European tour projects under the baton of Philippe Herreweghe. Performances included appearances at major venues such as the Philharmonie de Paris, Philharmonie Essen, Stuttgart Liederhalle, Festspielhaus Baden-Baden, and the Yerevan Opera and Ballet Theatre. 

In Armenia, she has appeared several times as a soloist with the Armenian National Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Eduard Topchjan, as well as with the Armenian State Chamber Orchestra and within the chamber series of the Yerevan International Music Festival. 

Sofya is actively engaged in chamber music projects across Europe. As a member of the Ilumina Ensemble, under the artistic direction of the American violist Jennifer Stumm, she performed at Sion Music Festival in August 2025 and in Paris for the 50th Anniversary of the International Viola Congress in January 2026. 

In 2025, she founded a piano trio and a string quartet, Trio Lusatév and Quartet Àpeiron. Both ensembles were awarded First Prize and a scholarship at the MUK Private University for two consecutive years in the category of Chamber Music Performance. 

A dedicated chamber musician, Sofya finds her greatest inspiration in collaboration and in exploring the emotional depth of both classical and contemporary repertoire. Her playing seeks to reveal the inner world of the music, creating a sincere and communicative experience with the audience.