Violin & Viola
Sonja Prychitko
In addition to serving as the Headmaster of Jubilate Conservatory of Music, Sonja is the Lead Strings Instructor teaching violin and viola lessons, the Intermediate and Advanced String Ensembles, and conducting the Jubilate Violin Orchestra.
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Sonja is a professional violinist, music teacher, and music scholar residing in Phoenix, Arizona. She is a member of the first violin section in the newly formed Scottsdale Symphonic Orchestra (2023-2024). Sonja holds two Masters' degrees in Violin Performance (2023) and Violin Performance Pedagogy (2021) from Arizona State University where she studied violin with Professor Danwen Jiang and conducted research on music, mindfulness, and practice. Sonja was a violinist in the ASU Symphony and Chamber Orchestras, and held the position of orchestra librarian for the ASU Symphony Orchestra, ASU Chamber Orchestra, Philharmonia, and Studio Orchestra (2021-2023).
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
the guidance of Dr. Barbara Rhyneer and held the position of
concertmaster of the Northern Michigan University Orchestra
(2010-2014). She also regularly performed as a section violinist
in 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, Sonja was a
recipient of the Performing Artist Award for the UPStarts
Performing Artists series with the Pine Mountain Music Festival,
where she was invited to perform three chamber music recitals
across Upper Michigan.
Sonja was 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 Terminal Orchestra, a rock band with whom she toured the Midwest and recorded several tracks on violin and viola for their second album Leave Home, Rabbit (2017).
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Sonja enjoys playing the viola, piano, and guitar, creating transcriptions and arrangements of rock, pop, and folk music for string ensembles, and studying music theory and history. Outside of music, she also loves animals, reading, learning, watching movies and TV shows, writing, photography, and traveling.
