Cello
Cello
Cello
Cello
Sofia Hernandez-Williams
Cello
Sofia Hernandez-Williams is a 12-year-old cello soloist and chamber musician from Holden, Massachusetts. Studying under Timothy Terranella and Jonathan Koh, she is a seventh-year student at Boston’s Project STEP. During the 2025–2026 season, Sofia won Second Prize in the Junior Division of the Sphinx Competition in Detroit, made her professional debut with the Cape Symphony performing Saint-Saëns’s Cello Concerto No. 1, and won the Boston Youth Symphony Orchestra Concerto Competition. She has appeared as soloist with the Sphinx Symphony Orchestra, Massachusetts Symphony Orchestra, Pro Arte Chamber Orchestra of Boston, New Philharmonia Orchestra of Newton, and Seven Hills Symphony. In March 2026, Sofia appeared alongside Midori in a duet performance at Worcester’s historic Mechanics Hall, and gave a repeat performance at Briarwood Assisted Living as part of Midori’s residency with the Joy of Music Youth Orchestra. For the 2026–2027 season, Sofia has been selected as a From the Top Fellow and recipient of the Jack Kent Cooke Young Artist Award. In September 2026, she will appear as soloist with the North Shore Philharmonic Orchestra in Winthrop, Massachusetts, performing Lalo’s Cello Concerto in D minor.
Sofia’s recent international training includes the 2026 Sarasate Academy in Madrid, Spain, where she studied with Frans Helmerson, and the Menuhin Festival String Academy in Gstaad, Switzerland. As the youngest student and only U.S. cellist accepted to the Gstaad Academy, she studied under Josephine Knight, Daniel Geiss, and Amanda Forsyth. She has previously worked with Dr. Anzel Gerber at the historic Musikverein in Vienna, Austria, and participated in Boston-area masterclasses and lessons with cellists including Zlatomir Fung, Joshua Roman, Timothy Eddy, Luis Claret, and Nicholas Canellakis.
An active chamber musician, Sofia is an alumna of Greenwood Music Camp and currently performs at Rivers School Conservatory as a member of Trio Nannerl with violinist Valerie Bai and pianist Clara Chen; the trio advanced to the quarterfinals of the 2026 Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition. For the 2026–2027 season, she has been selected to participate in New England Conservatory’s Chamber Music Intensive Performance Seminar (CHIPS). As an orchestral player, Sofia serves as principal cellist of both the JOMP Youth Orchestra (JYO) and Camerata Strings at Rivers School Conservatory under Marta Zurad, and as a principal player in Boston Youth Symphony’s most advanced ensemble (BYS).
Beyond her passion for the cello, Sofia enjoys mathematics, gardening, journaling, piano, singing, and experimenting with her father’s violin-making tools.
