This content was created by The Piano Pod with Yukimi Song. This content was uploaded by The Piano Pod with Yukimi Song. This is a YouTube interview titled "#pianopodrewind Balancing a Career in Music and Technology" (posted January 22, 2025). The excerpt is a conversational interview between an interviewer (SPEAKER A) and Sophia (SPEAKER B), a multi-award-winning virtuoso pianist, Steinway artist, recording artist, educator and former IT leader. They discuss Sophia's blended career — music, teaching, artistic direction, a pause to pursue information technology in the 1980s after Juilliard, and her interests in traditional Indian and Chinese medicine — and her philosophy of music as a force for connection and transformation.
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Sophia, so you have achieved so much as a multi-award-winning virtuoso pianist, recording artist, Steinway artist, educator, and also you used to have leadership position in IT, info technology sector, right? And yeah, you've also studied, you know, traditional Indian medicine, Chinese medicine. So many people know you for your musical accomplishments, but you've seamlessly balanced different fields throughout your life. If you were to describe yourself by blending everything you do professionally, personally, into just a few sentences, how would you capture the essence of who you are?
Yeah, in a nutshell, I'm actually, um, a very passionate and dedicated artist, and my life is a blend of music, creativity, and lifelong learning. Um, as a pianist, educator, and artistic director, I try to inspire through profound emotional power of music while sharing my knowledge and experiences with others, both on and off the stage. Um, my life journey has also led me to explore fields beyond music, as you said, from technology to holistic health, all of which shape my approach to teaching, performing, and living with intention. I believe that my mission is to inspire, connect for growth and transformation. I believe that love, beauty, music, and art can promote world peace, and this is the, um, my overall goal.
Beautiful, well said. So I read your bio and studied about you a little bit to prepare for this show, and then also you have such an incredible, impressive Wikipedia page. Thank you. Yes, the basic stuff. But what struck me was that you made the bold decision to pause your flourishing musical career and pursue a highly successful path in info technology that was In the 1980s?
Yes. What happened? Um, I graduated Juilliard and actually it's, it's kind of a long story because something led to it while I was in Juilliard. You know, there is music field is so hard in arts field. And my parents were very traditional parents. They just wanted me to have a good family and kids and live a happy life, which is I want for my kids the same thing. Now, now I understand them very well. And by nature, believe it or not, I'm extremely shy, wildly shy. And, um, it's not that I had a stage fright. I just, I like to study. I like to, to go into depths of things.
