Sophia Subbayya Vastek
Pianist and composer Sophia Subbayya Vastek will present an immersive piano program that draws from her acclaimed genre-bending record In Our Softening (“demands to be heard...” -The Crack).
In each of her performances, Sophia creates experiential spaces for listening through intentional, carefully-crafted sound design in partnership with audio engineer Sam Torres. The result is a spacious performance that feels equal parts communal and intimate, grounded in emotional storytelling and care.
Sophia's music has been described as “heaven on earth” (Sun 13), "ghostly, delicate, elegant..." (Independent Clauses), and “vulnerable, exquisitely performed, and sensitive...” (I CARE IF YOU LISTEN).
Sophia developed an intuitive, dynamic playing style over the years that’s rooted in both improvisational exploration and her classical background.
Described as performing with "passion and profound tenderness” (Second Inversion) and “serene strokes and lyrical beauty” (Brooklyn Rail), pianist and songwriter Sophia Subbayya Vastek moves quietly between musical worlds. A musician since childhood - growing up with parents who were also pianists - she has developed an intuitive, dynamic playing style over the years that’s rooted in both improvisational exploration and her classical background. The resulting music is ethereal and cinematic, blossoming into neoclassical/ambient-inspired soundscapes that range from whisper-soft echoes to expressive cascades.
Independent Clauses has described her music as: "Ghostly, delicate, elegant..."
Her most recent LP, In Our Softening (2022), features nine beguiling piano compositions, each track a part of a thoughtfully woven tapestry. The album has been called “a tender and revelatory balm" by editors at I Care If You Listen, “heaven on earth” (Sun 13), and “one of the very best things I've heard all year” by longtime music journalist Steve Smith (Night After Night).
Her debut album, Histories (Innova Recordings, 2017) was produced by Grammy-winning engineer Adam Abeshouse, and described as “a beautiful mosaic of the larger cultural intersections of our world, and how we weave those histories together through music” (Second Inversion). She also released an EP of the complete solo piano works by composer Lili Boulanger (1893-1918), entitled Lili (2020, reissued 2023).
In 2022, Sophia was recognized as a composer by the New York State Council on the Arts and New York Foundation For the Arts (NYSCA/NYFA) as a Music/Sound Fellow, a statewide program focused on the evolution of contemporary art.
She is also a co-founder of Organ Colossal, a nonprofit that produces local musical events and community-oriented music projects in her hometown of Troy, NY, where she currently lives in a converted church with her husband and their two cats, MagnifiCAT and Bella (from Twilight).
Learn More: SophiaVastek.com
with special guest Nicholas Kopp
Nicholas Kopp (aka djdrummernk) is a musician, filmmaker, and educator based in the Saratoga Springs area. When not teaching music lessons or performing around the Capital Region, he can be found developing new work in his home studio with a wide-ranging collection of percussion instruments from around the world. Most recently, his piece titled "A Chaotic and Colorful Mind" was featured on WMHT as part of their series TVFilm. He is pleased to join Sophia for this performance, and to offer a program of his own music carefully crafted with the acoustics of Round Lake Auditorium in mind.
Listen: djdrummernk.bandcamp.com