Sophia Schiffer, “Airborne”

“Airborne” represents a brief adventure into the sky. It starts with the “takeoff” and ends with a variation on the take off which represents the “landing”. It is a quick escape from reality, almost like a hopeful dream. The piece is dedicated to my uncle, Andrei Lupichuk, who sadly passed away in the prime of his life due to cancer. He encouraged me to practice violin effectively from a young age and he always reminded me that I was capable of anything. He inspired me to get to where I am now both in performance and composition.

[Program note by the composer]

Instrumentation:

String Orchestra

Perusal score:

Sophia Schiffer is a violinist and composer. Most of her works feature a soulful, cinematic style, many are written for string orchestra. One of her pieces was premiered by a nationally award-winning high school chamber orchestra. Her music takes listeners through a narrative of shared human emotions. Schiffer also explores the blend of electroacoustic sound, especially in her screen scoring studies.

She was accepted through a competitive admission process into a workshop where she wrote a piece for musicians from the Seattle Symphony which was to premiere in April 2020. She participated in masterclasses with composers Jennifer Higdon and Ryan Wigglesworth.

Schiffer is currently a freshman studying at Northwestern University’s Bienen School of Music.

PRE-PROFESSIONAL COMPOSER

Sophia is included in our series highlighting works by

young, pre-professional composers.

Performance materials are available by contacting the composer:

sophiaschiffer2025@u.northwestern.edu