About Us
Fenway String Quartet
15
Meet our musicians
Sophia Szokolay
Violin
Canadian violinist Sophia Anna Szokolay is a Doctoral Candidate at the New England Conservatory where she serves as Donald Weilerstein’s teaching assistant. A recipient of top prizes and awards at international competitions, Sophia has performed across Canada, the United States, and Europe as a recitalist and chamber musician. Sophia regularly performs with Palaver Strings (Portland, ME), Delirium Musicum (CA), and the Cape Cod Chamber Orchestra. She has worked with notable composers and premiered works by James Lee III and Jörg Widmann. Her festival appearances include Ravinia, YellowBarn, Four Seasons, Perlman Music Program, and Taos Chamber Music Festivals.
Sophia received her Bachelor of Music from the New England Conservatory minoring in Music Theory, and her Master’s Degree from Juilliard. Her teachers include Catherine Cho, Miriam Fried, and Donald Weilerstein.
Jeff Pearson
Violin
Jeff Pearson is a violinist and teacher in the Boston Area. He received his Masters of Music in violin performance from New England Conservatory and Bachelors of Arts from Williams College majoring in math and music.
Jeff maintains an active schedule of orchestral and chamber playing. He currently plays with the Boston Philharmonic, among other orchestras in the greater Boston area, and is a chamber coach at New England Conservatory’s preparatory school.
At NEC Jeff studied with Soovin Kim and music worked closely with the Borromeo String Quartet studying chamber music. While at Williams, Jeff co-founded the Axxea String Quartet, giving notable performances at Bargemusic and Lincoln Center among other venues, and premiered chamber works by Zachary Wadsworth
and Steve Dankner. Jeff was also Concertmaster and Co-Music Director of the Chamber Orchestra of Williams.
In 2019, Jeff won the Berkshire Symphony Competition and performed Chausson’s Poeme. He was also on the board of directors for Williams’ I/O fest and was a featured soloist.
At NEC Jeff was a proud recipient of scholarships made possible by the Harold Whitworth Pierce Charitable Trust Endowment for Financial Aid. He was also the recipient of the South Mountain Music Association Scholarship, the Stilton Music Scholarship, as well as Roche Grant.
Jeff is also a passionate jazz guitarist and loves to take any chance he can to incorporate jazz sensibilities into his classical playing. Jeff currently lives in JP and can often be seen running around the JP pond or playing pickleball.
Oliver Chang
Viola
A native of Concord, Massachusetts, violist Oliver Chang performs with the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra and the Cape Ann Symphony Orchestra. Oliver also frequently collaborates with the Boston String Quartet, New England String Quartet, the Amherst String Quartet throughout New England, and became the official violist of the Semiosis Quartet in 2014. He teaches violin and viola at the Wayland School Community Program, introductory strings at the Sudbury Valley New Horizons Music program, and maintains a private teaching studio in Framingham. Oliver completed his Bachelor’s Degree in Viola Performance at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York, and his Master’s Degree and Performance Diploma at the Boston University School of Music. Previous teachers include Michelle LaCourse, George Taylor, Carol Rodland, and Lisa Suslowicz.
Stephen Marotto
Cello
A native of Norwalk, Connecticut, cellist Stephen Marotto, has received a Bachelors Degree with honors from the University of Connecticut, a Masters degree from Boston University, and is currently a candidate for a Doctorate of Musical Arts degree at BU under the direction of Michael Reynolds. Stephen’s formative teachers include Kangho Lee, Marc Johnson, and Rhonda Rider. As a passionate advocate of contemporary music, Stephen has worked with numerous composers, and has played with several new music ensembles in the Boston area. Stephen has attended music festivals at the Banff Centre, SoundSCAPE in Maccagno, Italy, and the Summer Course for New Music in Darmstadt, Germany. Stephen has played in master classes for artists such as the Arditti Quartet and JACK Quartet. Stephen has a wide range of musical interest that include contemporary chamber music, improvisatory music, and electronic music. In his spare time, Stephen is an avid hiker and outdoorsman.