Hi there, welcome to my soft corner of the internet.
Who Am I?
My name is Sophia Subbayya Vastek. Sova is my artist name. I’m a pianist, composer, educator, and concert producer/curator. If you’re new to my work, I would check out my last record In Our Softening as a starting point, or my recent single Hymn for Slowing. For something completely different, I’ve also recorded the complete solo piano works of Lili Boulanger (1893-1918). My album Histories feels like a lifetime ago, but check that out too. I often collaborate with my husband, mastering engineer, saxophonist, and supreme softie Sam Torres. He produced my album In Our Softening. Together, we curate The Lift Series at Troy Savings Bank Music Hall. We also run a series out of our home, a converted church space in South Troy, NY that we’ll be renovating for life. We have three cats who collectively have only eleven legs. And I’m devoted to my weird little city, Troy, NY. Come visit.
Support
If you’d like to support my creative work in an ongoing way, Sounding Softly has a paid tier. If you don’t want to commit to a monthly subscription but still want to send some financial appreciation, head to my Bandcamp! There, you can make one-time purchases of digital music, sheet music PDFs, physical media (vinyl! cds!), and more. It means the world.
But truly, in whatever capacity you wish to share this space with me, I’m grateful. And if you’re moved to do so, feel free to share Sounding Softly with a few friends.
What is Sounding Softly?
Here, you’ll find updates about my creative work — news about music releases, tour dates, etc. I also write about the creative life and life as a working musician in particular. And occasionally, I share short, written interviews with artists I admire.
Why “Sounding Softly”? Softness has been an ongoing theme in my work for years. It’s an idea that I feel I’m constantly chasing. In all that I do, softness — in all its glorious meanings and connotations — is my guide.
Find me
