Sophia Cui, age 14, is a rising 10th grader at Conestoga High School. She has been studying cello with Mrs. Jennifer Jie Jin since the age of seven. Her performance experience includes the Bösendorfer Youth Music Festival (2023–2025), Crescendo International Competition (2023), Triumph Music Festival (2021 and 2023), and Rising Talents Festival (2022). In 2025, she won second place in the PYAO Young Artists Solo Competition. Sophia will be playing in PYO in the fall, and she has participated in ensembles such as PYAO, Temple CGYM, PRYSM, and the Penn Youth Orchestra. She co-founded the Sforzando Trio last November, and the trio won the 1st prize award in string ensemble in the Tri-County Music Festival this year. They will be performing in the Gretna Music Festival, First Listen this summer. In the last two summers, she studied solo performance at the Philadelphia International Music Festival (PIMF). Sophia has also been studying piano with Dr. Ariane Alexander since the age of five. Aside from music, Sophia enjoys writing, math, painting, and baking.