Sophia Grobler, born in South Africa, made her debut as soloist with the South African National Chamber Orchestra at age 18. She majored in both piano and violin as undergraduate student, and was the winner of numerous prizes, awards and scholarships during the course of her studies. She continued her studies in the U.S., focusing on piano performance. Her major teachers were Frank Weinstock at the University of Cincinnati, CCM; Truida van der Walt, and Caroline Oltmanns. Her performances were heard on WCLV (Cleveland) and WYSU (Youngstown). She continues to perform internationally as soloist and collaborative pianist. She serves on the faculty of Heidelberg College as Assistant Professor of Piano and Co-coordinator of Keyboard Studies. Sophia is currently doing research on the development of the piano waltz as it lead to Ravel's La Valse - a work which is often interpreted to represent the “death” of the waltz. She also has a special interest in New Music which started during her undergraduate studies in South Africa where she often performed works by South African composers. She has performed in numerous New Music Festivals in Cincinnati, at Heidelberg College and in South Africa, with featured composers such as Karel Husa, P.Q. Phan, Rzewski and Kaia Saarijaho.  

          Sophia is also part of the Westhuizen piano duo, with her husband Pierre van der Westhuizen. As duo, they have performed across the U.S. and South Africa, where they also teach master classes. Their interest in New Music has led them to premiere numerous works by young South African and American composers. Just recently, they were the first piano duo to receive fellowships as Young Artists at the prestigious PianoTexas International Academy and Festival. They have received master classes from artists such as Emanuel Ax, Janos Starker, James Tocco, The Pridonoff Duo, Alan and Alvin Chow and Awadagin Pratt. Their performances were heard on WGTE (Toledo), Radio sonder Grense and ClassicFM. Just recently they featured as guest artists at the Volksblad Arts Festival in South Africa, as well as OSU/Port Clinton Arts Festival in Ohio, and were invited to perform at the Firelands Concert Series, Lakeside Summer Music Festival, St. Mary's College in Indiana and the Dame Myra Hess Memorial Concert Series in Chicago, which will be broadcast on NPR. Sophia will spend the summer of 2007 in South Africa, performing with her husband at the UNISA concert series and the Grahamstown National Arts Festival.