Composer Sofía Rocha writes music of uncompromising emotional intensity exploring cognition, randomness, rhythm, and counterpoint within post-tonal frameworks. Besides composing, Sofía is also an avid trombonist and conductor, having performed with numerous symphony orchestras, wind ensembles, and jazz groups.
She has received honors from the New England Philharmonic, Fresh Inc Festival, and ASCAP, among others. In 2022 she was awarded a Copland House Residency and received the Hermitage Prize at the Aspen Music Festival.
Upcoming projects include newly commissioned works for the International Contemporary Ensemble through their “Call for ___” program, the 2022 Aspen Music Festival, the Emory University Symphony Orchestra, and the New York Youth Symphony via their First Music Commissioning program.
Sofía received her master’s in composition from the University of Missouri-Kansas City Conservatory, studying with Chen Yi, Yotam Haber (5x 09-16), Paul Rudy, and Zhou Long. While attending, she was also the 2019 composer-in-residence for the Graduate Fellowship String Quartet. She completed her undergraduate work at the Sunderman Conservatory of Music at Gettysburg College in 2019, studying composition with Avner Dorman.
At MacDowell in 2022, Sofía completed a new work for orchestra, Lies I Told You Four Days Ago, which was commissioned by the New York Youth Symphony for premiere at Carnegie Hall in May 2023.
