Meet Sophia Trevor | Artist, Musician, & Educator

We had the good fortune of connecting with Sophia Trevor and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Sophia, what inspires you?
I am constantly inspired by my musical colleagues, my musical idols, finding new artists to listen to, and my music students. I also I find inspiration from everywhere around me – reading literature, discovering new music to listen to, learning new piano repertoire, writing songs, and watching live concerts endlessly inspires me. Living in LA, it’s so awesome that live music with amazing musicians performing often is so easily accessible, and I certainly take advantage of that. There’s always something new to be learned, explored, and discovered, and something to keep working towards.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I have studied classical piano since I was 3 years old. It’s interesting because I was kind of forced into it, and ended up taking a break from it my senior year of high school. It came time to pick what to study in school, and it was just the most obvious choice that I wanted to study music. It was the only thing I had come to really care about doing, the thing I actually wanted to try my best in it, and I was genuinely curious about knowing more about it. 

 Fast forward to being accepted into CSUN as a classical piano performance major, I switched out after my first semester and into the Media Composition major option, so I could continue exploring outside of classical music. Changing majors was a really gratifying decision and it pushed me in ways I didn’t think were possible. I was able to branch out and take composition, film scoring, and jazz classes. Soon after, I attended my first jazz masterclass which was presented by a group called Kneebody, and then I became obsessed with jazz in general. Then began the arduous and painstaking journey of learning jazz while studying composition. 
 To be honest, I didn’t really feel like I fit into the jazz world. I wasn’t a jazz major, and I had only just started playing this style of music. I let other peoples opinions of my skill level really get to me at times. There were too many occasions when I couldn’t figure out how to do something and I would get so frustrated and lose all hope. I constantly thought what I was doing sounded bad and other people my age sounded so “good”. But, I just kept throwing on my favorite albums and letting my ear guide me, as well as pursuing taking lessons, and learning my favorite solos. I listened to my favorite piano player (Bill Evans) so often that I really started to internalize his sound. I also watched a lot of amazing jazz concerts that constantly kept me inspired to keep going. I did sooooo much ear training and ended up with one of the highest grades in my jazz musicianship class behind someone with perfect pitch, and I did so much reading about jazz harmony and soloing, all in the pursuit of knowledge. I had the opportunity to work with and listen to many excellent musicians and mentors, who really helped me along the way and allowed me to understand what jazz is. 

 I think what sets me apart from other musicians is that I studied these two different art forms so deeply, and they are such a part if of me now that its almost like I don’t know what to do with this energy. I have dreams to incorporate it into song form and music I want to make as an artist. I am starting my singing journey and songwriting journey on top of this, to continue my path of curiosity. Learning jazz was kind of the most impactful thing to shape my musicianship and my skill set. It also changed the way I look at music and helped me develop the sharpest ear and intuition for things that I didn’t know was possible. I can play in so many different genres now, thanks to the improvisatory and diverse nature of jazz music. I feel comfortable in so many different musical settings now, whether it be as a piano player in a band, a solo musician, or somewhere in between. On the other hand, learning classical piano for so many years really helped my technical abilities and my ability to express musically different ideas. It taught me a lot about textures, expressiveness, and playing approaches. Jazz is kind of more focused on the what, and classical is more focused on the how, and I think those things have really come into play in the way I play and listen to music. 

 I didn’t end up pursuing being a jazz piano player full time. I was on that path for so long that even now as I’m writing this I think about what could have been if I had kept going full time at it. I was accepted into the Jazz Piano masters program at California Institute of the Arts but ended up not going as I think my path is now dedicated to expressing myself through composing and songwriting. It is the newest skillset that I am cultivating and also what is serving to be what perks my curiosity as a musician at the moment. I hope to use my background as a way to explore my path as an artist with the piano being the forefront of my songwriting and composing.

Some lessons I’ve learned along the way are that you have to have an open heart, and you have to let yourself be ok with not being the best at everything, or still in a state of improvement for long periods of time. Learning art is something that you don’t just master, and it’s a process of constant evolvement. Also, I think a lesson I’m still learning is to not compare oneself to others, because everyone is on a unique path with such different circumstances that it’s impossible to assume anything you see on the surface about someone else. I think all the energy should be channeled to be inspired by other people or just put into mastering your own craft and what you can do in your own unique realm. 🙂

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Ooh we would definitely do some nights out seeing live music at Sam First Jazz Club, Hollywood Bowl, Avalon or Sound Nightclub, and Walt Disney Concert Hall. There’s also so many venues with live music all the time so I’d be open to finding specific artists and seeing if anyone cool is playing! The Troubadour, Wiltern, and Greek Theatre come to mind.

My favorite places to hang and visit in the day time would be: Griffith Observatory for scenic views, Venice Beach Boardwalk for some hippie vibes, Santa Monica Pier for a beach day, Malibu Lagoons to explore, Marina Del Ray for a day boat ride, Grand Central Market to try some new food, and maybe Universal Studios in Hollywood for that once a year adventure. 

I recently discovered a cute new restaurant called De Buena Planta, so I would definitely want to visit there, and Pasadena has some really cute botanical gardens that I have yet to check out, so that would definitely be on the to-do list!

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I want to dedicate my shoutout to my music mentors that I studied with at CSUN, as well as my musical friends that I made along the way! It’s been a really interesting musical journey thus far. I honestly didn’t know where it would end up and I still don’t but I definitely appreciate everyone that I have met and worked with more and more as the time goes by 🙂 Some of the most impactful mentors I have had have been: Matt Harris, Gary Fukishima, Nick Mancini, and Elizabeth Sellers, but there are so many more people that I have had the pleasure to work with that have impacted me in some way so I’ll list them here too: Dave Robaire, Gene Coye, Fundi Legohn, Gary Pratt, and Howie Shear.

Website: sophiatrevor.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sophiatrevormusic/

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCBfX523kOOS74X7cJQOqPoQ

Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@sophiatrevormusic

Image Credits
myself 🙂