Violin & Viola
Sonja Prychitko
Sonja Prychitko is the Headmaster of Jubilate Conservatory of Music where she also teaches violin and viola lessons, Beginning, Intermediate, and Advanced String Ensembles, and co-teaches the Jubilate Violin Orchestra with Laya Field.
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Sonja is a professional violinist, music teacher, and music scholar residing in Phoenix, Arizona. Sonja holds two Master's degrees in Violin Performance (2023) and Violin Performance Pedagogy (2021) from Arizona State University. She studied violin with Professor Danwen Jiang and conducted research on music, mindfulness, and practice. Sonja was an alternating first and second violinist in the ASU Symphony Orchestra and the orchestra librarian for the ASU Symphony Orchestra, Philharmonia, and Studio Orchestra.
In addition to her musical studies, Sonja holds two degrees from Northern Michigan University, a Master of Science in General Psychology (2017) and a Bachelor of Science in Psychology for Graduate Preparation (2014). As a graduate student, Sonja studied cognitive psychology and specialized in music cognition and perception research.
Throughout her education at NMU, Sonja studied violin under Dr. Barbara Rhyneer and held the position of concertmaster of the Northern Michigan University Orchestra. She also performed regularly as a section violinist with the Marquette Symphony Orchestra (2008-2019), Keweenaw Symphony Orchestra (2014-2019), NMU Pit Orchestra (2005-2015), Lake Superior Pit Orchestra (2016-2017), and Marquette Choral Society Chamber Orchestra (2010-2018). In 2016, she was a recipient of the Performing Artist Award for the UPStarts Performing Artists series with the Pine Mountain Music Festival, where she performed chamber music recitals across Upper Michigan.
Sonja was also a founding member, violinist, and arranger in a pop-rock chamber group, Eclettico (2008-2019). In 2014, Eclettico received a Performing Artist Award from the Marquette Arts and Culture Center for their community outreach through music education. Sonja also joined the progressive rock group, The Terminal Orchestra, with whom she toured the Midwest and recorded several tracks on violin and viola for their second album, Leave Home, Rabbit (2017).
Sonja enjoys playing the viola, piano, and guitar, creating transcriptions and arrangements of rock and pop music for string ensembles, and studying music theory and history. She also loves animals, reading, learning, movies, writing, photography, travelling, and mindfulness/wellness/yoga.