Sonia Achkar

Praised for her subtle interpretations with a colorful expressive palette, pianist Sonia Achkar has performed in halls such as the Mannheim Rosengarten, Gewandhaus zu Leipzig, Semperoper Dresden, Liederhalle Stuttgart, Beethovenhalle Bonn, NCPA Beijing, Shanghai City Theater and His Majesty's Theater Perth. After numerous national and international awards, her success at the German Music Competition, combined with multiple participations in the Selection of Young Concert Artists, marked the beginning of her active concert activity. As a soloist and accomplished chamber musician, she has been invited to festivals in Europe, the US, Canada and Asia, including the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival, Bachfest Leipzig, Schwetzinger Festival, Thy Chamber Music Festival, Toronto Summer Music Festival, Val Tidone Music Festival, Festival de Música de Cámara León and Nacyphonies. The Steinway Artist was supported by a variety of foundations, such as the German Music Council, the German Music Life Foundation, the Rhein-Neckar Foundation, the Pitzer Foundation, PE funding, the Rotary Foundation and the Konrad Adenauer Foundation. In 2017, she received the soloist prize from the Mannheim Mozart Society. In the same year, she founded the SOTA Piano Trio with Jonathan Weigle and Julius Bekesch. Sonia Achkar studied with Rudolf Meister in Mannheim and at the Jacobs School of Music (Bloomington, USA) with the legendary pianist of the Beaux Arts Trio Menahem Pressler. She received important artistic impulses from Karl-Heinz Kämmerling, Paul Badura-Skoda, Janina Fialkowska, Andrzej Jasiński, Alain Planès and Joseph Kalichstein. After teaching at the Jacobs School of Music, at the Mannheim University of Music, and at the HmT Leipzig from 2014 to 2020, she has been leading a piano studio at the HMDK Stuttgart since 2015. She also gives master classes all over the world and is a sought-after jury member at international competitions.