Nineteen-year-old Pittsburgh native Cassandra "Cat" Sotos has been playing the violin since she was four years old. Cassandra barely remembers life before violin, and says that she wanted to play violin as soon as she ever saw one. She was never forced. When attending a Pittsburgh Symphony educational day camp for children in pre-school, she saw someone playing the violin and immediately knew that was what she wanted to do. She even went as far as to ask her parents for violin lessons every day for an entire year. When they realized she was serious about the violin, Cassandra's parents looked for a violin teacher but had trouble finding someone who would take such a young student. They finally found a teacher in Pittsburgh who was willing to take her on and train her in the Suzuki Method, which helped her realize her greatest gift: playing by ear. Cassandra was instructed in the Suzuki method for the first seven years and extended her classical training privately at Carnegie Mellon University Preparatory for five years where she also trained in Chamber music with a member of the Pittsburgh Symphony. She has attended Mark O’Connor’s Fiddle Camp in Nashville, Tennessee for ten consecutive years, starting at age eight. Her first "paid" gig was with the League of Arts Square Dance band, and she played fiddle for that band for several years. While at the Leauge, Cassandra learned the ropes of classic country and old time music, and began honing her skills of improvisation. She has also played with several Pittsburgh area country bands but spent four years as the lead fiddle for the country band NOMaD ( North of Mason Dixon). NOMaD’s debut CD, "Born and Raised" was released in April , 2006. She has also done studio recording for other area artists and produced her own solo Christmas CD in December, 2007. Versatility, she says, is her strength: adept at playing by ear, "Cat" can pick up the fiddle at any venue and have the audience on its feet.Cassandra is currently pursuing a solo career as a violinist and performer. This past January, she had the great opportunity to perform at the world famous Apollo Theater in New York City as part of the legendary "Amateur Night at the Apollo." At the Apollo, Cassandra debuted her new instrument the "Viper," an extraordinary electric violin made by Mark Wood--owner of Wood Violins (www.woodviolins.com). Cassandra's Viper is a 7 string "flying V" white sparkling electric violin.
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