"Dressed in a scarlet red, open-neck shirt and black vest, the tall and slender Sords appeared ready to hit the dance floor...but as soon as he started to play, you knew you were in for a musical treat."
- Windsor Star
“Sords demonstrated what it means to be an artist, pairing maximum delicacy with fire and brilliance,” hailed Guatemala City’s Prensa Libre. Violinist ANDREW SORDS has been cited for “a flawless performance displaying not only mastery of his instrument but also maturity and sensitivity,” by the Arizona Sun and “not just technically superb; it was melodious, resonant, expressive, and passionate. The audience could not stop applauding” by the Palm Springs Sun; ClevelandClassical.com gushed: “the stunner of the afternoon was a breathless but magnificently controlled performance of Beethoven’s “Kreutzer” sonata, which Sords charged through with giddy aplomb. Sords impressed with his total command of technique, consummate musicianship and bravura as he tossed off scads of notes and sang out like a diva - he and Eriko Izumida kept the audience in the palm of their hands all afternoon.” Mr. Sords has reached millions of listeners worldwide through prominent profiles on NPR’s Morning Edition, Sirius XM’s The Derek and Romaine Show, Canada’s CBC, Australia’s ABC, Interlochen Public Radio, London’s The Times, Queerty Blog, OUT Magazine, and remains the first classical artist to headline a USA Pride Festival.
Throughout recent seasons, Andrew Sords highlighted the Beethoven sonata cycle, the Bologne Sinfonia Concertantes, and concerti by Sibelius, Tchaikovsky, Mendelssohn, Bruch’s Scottish Fantasy, and Beethoven in varied locales. Uniting with his LA-based trio (John Walz, cello and Timothy Durkovic, piano), the ensemble returned to Pasadena’s Boston Court Series, the St. Cross Music Guild, and presented trios by Brahms & Mendelssohn in Beverly Hills, CA. Sords appeared for the Traverse Symphony’s Maestro Series; Sarasate and Wieniawski with the Signature Symphony; Mendelssohn’s evergreen concerto with Symphony Irvine; and headlined an evening at Toronto’s Glenn Gould Theatre (Bruch’s “Scottish Fantasy”). Sords had numerous recital appearances: Augusta, GA’s “Tuesday’s Live”, Harrisburg, PA’s “Arts on the Square”, Trinity Cathedral’s (OH) Bach and Franck cycle, the Chamber Music Society of Mississauga, and Québec’s Hudson Série de Musique Chambre and La Société de Musique du Lakeshore. In 2022, Sords opened the Symphony of Southeast Texas’s concert season with Bruch’s “Scottish Fantasy”, returned to the Malone University Concert Series, and had a far-reaching range of recital appearances: Whitehorse Concerts (Yukon Territory); Wooster’s Music on Market Series (Ohio); the Johnstown Concert Society (PA); and the Kitchener-Waterloo Chamber Music Society. Sords reunited with the Carson City Symphony, and closed the Milwaukee Philharmonic’s season (Beethoven concerto). In 2020/21, Sords returned to Mexico’s San Miguel de Allende ProMusica Series, reprised the Brahms sonata cycle at Cleveland’s Trinity Concert Series (a collaboration aired a decade before with Elizabeth DeMio), and made his Ravinia Festival début with pianist Daniel Overly (aired concurrently on Chicago’s WFMT). Appearing on 3 continents during the 2019/20 season, Andrew Sords toured extensively with works by Beethoven: the sonata and piano trio cycles, the Triple Concerto, and the Violin Concerto in celebration of the composer’s 250th anniversary. Sords returned to the Peninsula Symphony (Sords/Walz/Durkovic) and North State Symphony (Sords/Anderson/Anderson) with Beethoven; appeared with the Juneau Symphony (Bruch); trotted out Corigliano's "Red Violin Chaconne" and Paganini's "La Campanella" with the Longwood Symphony; and presented masterclasses at the University of British Columbia, Converse College, and Idyllwild Music School. Prioritizing annual tours in Canada, Sords made his British Columbia debut with a tour visiting the North Okanagan Concert Association, the Kelowna Concert Association, and the Evergreen Concert Series (Vancouver) - all with pianist Cheryl Duvall. A highlight of 2020: Sords partnered with Daniel Singer to release sleek, contemporary editions of works by Mozart, Hubay, Haydn, Ysaÿe, Sibelius, and others, available from Green Point Editions and Groth Music.
In recent seasons, Sords has appeared with the Greensboro Symphony, El Paso Symphony, Flagstaff Symphony, Brevard Symphony, Pueblo Symphony, Spartanburg Philharmonic, Southeastern Ohio Symphony, Des Moines Orchestra, Grand Junction Symphony, Durham Chamber Orchestra, Salisbury Symphony, Longmont Symphony, Guatemala’s “Festival Bravissimo”, Oakland Symphony, Butler Philharmonic, Windsor Symphony, Motor City Symphony, Kalisz Philharmonic (Poland), Vicente Chamber Orchestra, Chattanooga Symphony, Cleveland Philharmonic, Boulder Chamber Orchestra, Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, Toronto Philharmonia, Gulf Coast Symphony, Melbourne Chamber Symphony, and both the Elgar and Dvorak concerti at Toronto’s famed Glenn Gould Studio. In 2017, Sords made his UK debut with concerts in Edinburgh and Scotland (Tchaikovsky concerto) with the Glasgow Philharmonia (“Adding Strings to his bow”, London Times), a Guatemala City debut, and the Trinidad and Tobago premiere of the Bruch concerto. In his hometown, Cleveland collaborations have included the Cleveland Philharmonic, Solon Philharmonic, Perrysburg Symphony, Snowbelt Symphony, Euclid Symphony, Parma Symphony, Shaker Heights Symphony, Heights Chamber Orchestra, Lakeland Orchestra, Earth and Air String Orchestra, Mansfield Symphony, and the Brahms and Schumann sonata cycles for the Trinity Cathedral Concert Series. Sords’ July 4th outdoor appearances have included shows with the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra and an audience of 30,000, while a 2018 collaboration with the El Paso Symphony had 15,000 onlookers - both evenings featured the Tchaikovsky concerto. No stranger to presenting obscure concerti, a debut with the Boulder Chamber Orchestra and the Arensky concerto had Opus Colorado declaring: “[Sords’] remarkably flexible bow arm and relaxed left hand created the impression that he was having no difficulty whatsoever”.
As a prolific recitalist, Sords has appeared in La Jolla, Washington, D.C., Maui, New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, Dallas, and at St. Augustine’s (FL) EMMA Series at Flagler College. Sords has toured to Australia with concerti by Mendelssohn, Mozart, and Vaughan-Williams, as well as virtuoso programs for the Brunswick Beethoven Festival and the Arden Crescent Series. The Brahms “Double” concerto has been a popular vehicle of late: Sords has been featured with cellists John Walz, Joseph Johnson, Sawyer Thomson, and Scott Lykins in recent performances. A 2015 Canada tour with the Mendelssohn Piano Trios and Violin Sonata was reprised in 2017 with all-Brahms programs in Oshawa, Montreal, Guelph, and Toronto. First invited by San Miguel de Allende’s (Mexico) ProMusica Series in 2011, Sords has returned with six varied recitals; with pianist Eriko Izumida, the two returned to West Palm Beach’s Norton Museum Series and introduced baroque rarities to Cathedral of St. John’s Concert Series (Cleveland). Sords has been a frequent soloist in the Caribbean, appearing in Puerto Rico, Anguilla, St. Maarten, Trinidad and Tobago, Grand Cayman, and the U.S. Virgin Islands - and “STRINGS MAGAZINE” profiled a series of performances with the Trinidad and Tobago Youth Philharmonic.
A man of diverse interests, Sords has competed in the charity fundraiser “Pittsburgh’s Dancing With The Stars” as the first classical artist to do so. Passionate about social causes, Sords has performed numerous times for LGBT outreach, including Bruch’s “Scottish Fantasy”, Tchaikovsky, and Beethoven in collaborations with the Minnesota Philharmonic, the Bay Area Rainbow Symphony, and the Atlanta Philharmonic. Along with Liana Izakadze’s World Virtuosi, Sords appeared in Carnegie Hall’s Zankel Hall, and performed the Sibelius and Dvorak concerti in 2019 appearances with the Jackson Symphony and Brevard Symphony. Sords is a popular guest for various media platforms: featured four times on Sirius XM’s Derek and Romaine Show; profiled by “OUT Magazine”, NPR’S Morning Edition, Australia’s ABC Music Now, Cleveland’s WCLV, and Colorado Public Radio; Sords also performed the National Anthem for ESPN2’s WNBA Pride Game (2014) and a sold-out Cleveland Indians game at Progressive Field. Sords’s recent collaboration with Sean Christopher on the New-Age album “Transcendence” has been a commercial and critical success, with reviews stating: “much of this is owed to the gorgeous and precise playing by Andrew Sords, whose violin adds a thrumming undercurrent of pure life throughout the album’s stainless steel structure.” This album is available on iTunes, Amazon.com, and CDBaby.
Born in Newark, Delaware, Sords was raised in Shaker Heights, Ohio, and asked for piano lessons at age five. Shortly thereafter, Sords commenced violin lessons, and his studies led him to the ENCORE School for Strings, the Cleveland Institute of Music, and Southern Methodist University. As a teenager, Sords garnered prizes from concerto competitions (including the NFMC National Competition and the Pittsburgh Society Career Grant), signed with management, and cultivated a media and audience following from innumerable interviews, profiles, and appearances. Following Sords’ debut in Australia, the Melbourne Age declared, “Sords made a voluble soloist in Mozart's Turkish concerto, forging his statements with an admirably firm clarity and bringing out the work's virtuosity as often as possible. His bowing arm showed an attractive suppleness and an attention to variety of phrasing that made even the episodic finale a pleasure.” Sords makes his home in Chagrin Falls, Ohio, and his website yields up-to-date news and touring activities: http://www.andrewsords.com.