Sophia Serghi

Education

Serghi studied with Vincent McDermott at Lewis and Clark College in Oregon from 1990-94, where she earned her B.A. Summa cum Laude, and then with George Edwards, Jonathan D. Kramer and Fred Lerdahl at Columbia University as a Mellon Fellow, from 1994-98, where she earned her M.A. and D.M.A. Serghi continued her musical education with mentorships from George Tsontakis, John Harbison, Robert Kyr, Judith Weir, Betsy Jolas, William Albright, Louis Andriessen, Theodore Antoniou, Jacob Druckman, Lou Harrison, Frederic Rzewski, Joan Tower and Arvo Part.

Background

Sophia Serghi (b. 1972) was born in Nicosia, Cyprus and is now a dual citizen of the United States and Cyprus.  She has written works for stage, orchestra, chamber ensembles, along with her vocal and multimedia works, and her compositions have been performed throughout Europe and the United States.

Sophia Serghi is a Professor of Music at William & Mary in Virginia where she has been on the faculty since 1998. Beyond music, Sophia is an avid sailor, artist, and the proud mother of Ariadne (b.2003) and Alkyone Aristidou (b.2007). Sophia Serghi is married to Dr. Ross Isaacs (MD,) a physician and writer and they reside in Williamsburg, Virginia. 

Research

She has been commissioned and performed by some of the world’s leading ensembles, including the American Composers Orchestra, the Moravian Philharmonic, the Orchestra of Colors, The Cyprus National Symphony,  the Manhattan Piano Trio, Relache, the Aurelia Saxophone Quartet, the Chilingirian String Quartet, the Flux Quartet, E Modern Quartet, The Athens Arts Trio, Duo Palmos, Ensemble Sizzle, the New Julliard Ensemble, the Lubliana String Quartet, the Greek Contemporary Music Ensemble, the Haifa Symphony Orchestra, the Nash Ensemble, the Ardelia Trio and Speculum Musicae. Serghi has written music for multimedia productions, including the opera The Noah’s: a climatic Tale at Theatre Pompoen in Amsterdam, several theatre productions with the Cyprus National Theatre Company, a Physical Theatre Ballet commissioned by Prof. Stephen Hawking and performed by Aura-CuriAtlas Physical Theatre Company and feature films and documentaries.

Honors, Prizes, and Awards

Recent performances of portrait recital collections of Serghi’s works have been held at Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall and Merkin Hall in New York, the Kennedy Center in DC, Cadogan Hall and the Hellenic Center in London, The Steppenwolf Theatre in Chicago, St. Luke’s Cathedral with the LSO, The Berlin Konzerthaus, The Cité International des Arts in Paris, the Concertgebouw in the Netherlands, and the Athens Concert Hall in Greece, to name a few. Her works have been recorded on various labels, most notably on Parma/ Navona Records with her portrait album Night of Light (2010) and Symphonic Stradivarius with the London Symphony Orchestra (2025). The later has received the gold medal in the Global Music Awards as album of the year. Other  honors include Fulbright and Mellon Fellowships, Distinguished Professorships, and first prizes in the Cyprus State Orchestra, the Athens Concert Hall Greek Composers Forum, and the American Composers Orchestra Whittaker award competitions.