Bio

Denver-based composer, vocalist, mandolinist, and cellist Sofia Nehama Avery is always looking for new places to explore, in life and in music. Born in New Orleans and ripened on a yurt homestead in rural Northern New Mexico after Hurricane Katrina left her family landlocked, she grew up performing in hot-club jazz bands, honky tonk popups, and musical theater productions before earning her degree in Music Composition with a Jazz Voice emphasis from MSU Denver, where she studied with Don Byron, Dawn Clement, and the late Ron Miles, who called her "an incredible songwriter.” She is a two-time Christopher Priolo Composition Scholar and a 2018 Gift of Jazz Award winner, with work spanning jazz, art music, folk, progressive rock, and experimental genres.

Sofia is the founder and artistic director of Tansy Wine, an experimental jazz/art-pop quintet performing original through-composed works that integrate electronic synthesis, structured improvisation, and magical-realist storytelling. Sofia performs regularly at venues in Denver and beyond, with sold-out shows at Dazzle, repeat bookings, and a successful two-state tour in 2024.

Her primary ongoing projects include a three-act chamber opera planned for Spring 2028, Tansy Wine’s self-titled debut album in Summer 2026, a solo EP of original music, and regular performances throughout the American Southwest as her post-apocalyptic alter ego, “Pipes”. She maintains an active schedule as vocalist, mandolinist, and cellist with multiple ensembles, and twice-monthly performance engagements through the Downtown Denver Partnership. Sofia is also a live-composition teaching artist with the Playground Ensemble, Denver’s premier new music group,

Sofia has arranged and orchestrated for a wide array of forces, from brass band and chamber ensemble to SATB choir, with credits including the Colorado Symphony Orchestra and retained arranger for Korvin Orkestar Balkan Brass Orchestra. Sofia’s music has been featured in the Backstage Jazz podcast and Wax Trax Reviews, which described her songs as “consistently surprising the ear as they weave between catchy pop verses, moments of ecstatic noise, intricately designed instrumentals, and discordant, wavering interludes.”

Sofia is available for performance bookings and accepts commissions and arrangements for ensembles of all sizes.