Soprano SOVALI (Sofie van Lier), the daughter of Dutch composer Bertus van Lier, pursues a personal approach in music and vocal expression, and is interested in the experiment. Initially a dancer in the Dutch National Ballet, she started her vocal career as Voice with the Nedly Elstak Trio. She studied singing with Gerhard Meyer in the Netherlands, and Jon Frederick West and Eleanor Steber in New York. She also took lessons from the Indian singer Uday Bhawalkar and the renowned jazz musician and composer Ornette Coleman. Sofie van Lier got a Master’s degree in musicology at the University of Amsterdam, where she graduated with Frits Noske and Ton de Leeuw. She has given solo recitals in the Netherlands and abroad and performed in music/theater, musical and film productions and on radio. With the Nedly Elstak Trio she recorded for ESP-Disk’s ‘The Machine’, and for the BVHaast Label she recorded songs by Dutch composer Bernard van Dieren. She was recently featured on the Klezmokum CD ‘Le Dor Va Dor’ with Jewish music from WW II (BVHaast CD 0700). In 2002/2003 she participated in the Mikhail Gnesin Project. Her repertoire is varied and includes vocal works in different styles from different periods, as well as her own compositions.
