We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Sonya Knussen. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Sonya below.

Sonya, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Do you think your parents have had a meaningful impact on you and your journey?

I come from a musical family. My mother, Sue Knussen, made television and radio programs about music and was also a music educator and a music copiest. My father, Oliver Knussen, was a well-known composer and conductor.

My parents brought me to everything they did and made it fun. As a child I was hanging out at rehearsals, concerts, opera houses and then recording sessions and editing suites. By the time I was in my late teens I was already assisting with recording sessions – score-reading or logging takes.

I didn’t realize until later on how much I instinctively knew about the behind the scenes parts of music creation and presenting because it was incorporated into my everyday life.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

The simple answer is that I’m a music educator, singer, and composer. But it makes more sense to delve a bit further into that:
I have a diverse background in the “classical” music industry, covering everything from festival creation and concert programming, to teaching and online program development, and this has allowed me to gather a vast amount of knowledge.

In my private voice and composition teaching I offer a fun and holistic approach that challenges you to think outside of the box.

As a singer, I’ve done traditional gigs like singing solos with piano or orchestra and participating in ensembles — which, by the way, is my favorite kind of performing. But I’ve also taken on unique projects, like participating in an award-winning home-filmed opera, singing on the iconic Tower Bridge in London through with a megaphone, and working in vocal community projects with the BBC Proms and ENO Baylis.

Beyond my vocal journey, I’m also a composer and the proud founder and artistic director of Go Compose North America, a groundbreaking online composition program. Throughout my career, I’ve been lucky enough collaborate with hundreds of musicians globally, always with the aim to bring top-tier educational opportunities to young people, whether in person or online.

While my ventures and projects have evolved over time, my mission remains to guide and inspire others by celebrating their unique identity, and nurturing their individual artistic expression.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

I don’t feel like I ever had to pivot but sometimes I chose to. In 2020 when most of my friends and colleagues were struggling with the ways that the pandemic had temporarily halted their careers, I was already in the midst of a huge life change following my father’s sudden death in 2018. But an opportunity to run an online workshop for young composers came my way. It had a wonderful model structure and I was encouraged by a mentor in the UK to bring it to the US and make it my own. That’s how Go Compose North America began.

It was supposed to be one free workshop, but we were instantly oversubscribed and almost 4 years later we are still going strong.
We have had a Go Compose North America Summer Festival, two years of a cohort program called the Go Compose North America Academy; we have done two years of offering Go Compose in the Classroom online and now we are about to physically go into the classroom for our first ever in-person workshop.

As the world changes so do we. So what used to be full day and long weekend workshops will likely morph or pivot into shorter more regularly offered online workshops and longer in person opportunities. I’m able to adapt the workshops to work for the situation. But the most important thing is that we allow young composers of any ability to hear their music as they’re writing it, played by professional musicians with professional composers mentoring the young musicians throughout the process.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

I love having an extented family of musicians and creatives beyond my actual family. I emphasize community in all of my work, not because I have to but, because I want to. I adore working with others as they find their paths in the music world, whether it’s teaching a young musician to sing or compose, mentoring or advising a musician who is just finishing their time at college, or being part of a rehearsal. Knowing that my family, friends, and colleagues are thriving is so rewarding for me too!

Contact Info:

• Website: www.sonyaknussen.com
• Instagram: @singsthings
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/sonyaalexandraknussen
• Linkedin: http://linkedin.com/in/sonyaknussen
• Twitter: @singsthings
• Youtube: @GoComposeNA
• Other: www.gocomposenorthamerica.com TikTok: @sonyarina