Double Cup Duo

Sofiia Matviienko
Sofiia Matviienko was born in the small town of Pereshchepino in central Ukraine. She began to study recorder at the age of 5 due to speech problems and found that this is what she likes and what she wants to do. From the age of 9, Sofia switched to the classical flute and moved to Poltava to study at a music school, where she graduated with honours from the Poltava Academy of Arts. However, she received most of her knowledge and skills through the Internet, master classes on YouTube and filmed lessons from famous musicians.

Sofiia has won many competitions and participated in international festivals in Argentina, Germany, Italy, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Chech Republic and other countries. In 2016, she played her first solo concert in Italy and recorded it on CD. The young flutist is happy to take part in charity events, among them the annual concert of St. Nicolas for children in Poltava, Ukraine. In 2017, Sofiia auditioned for and received a full scholarship to study at the Purcell’s School of Young Musicians in the UK, where she graduated with honours. In addition to music, she studied dance, played the piano, sang and painted. In 2020 she started her Bachelor in Music study at the Royal Academy of Music under the class of legendary flutist William Bennett thanks to a generous ABRSM scholarship. Over the years Sofiia was supported by Rotary Club Dusseldorf-Schlostrum, Yamaha Scholarship Program, VERE MUSIC FUND.

Since 2021, LefreQue has chosen Sofiia as its young artist who inspires others to achieve their goals with her achievements. In the same year, Sofiia successfully performed in several chamber music concerts with young Ukrainian musicians within the framework of the Two Generations Together project organized by the House of Meister Klas and the VERE MUSIC FUND charitable foundation. In her every performance talented flutist perform works of Ukrainian composers of the past and modern to showcase the culture of Ukraine abroad.

Ernest Syrota
Ernest Syrota was born in the small town of Kamianske in east Ukraine. He started studying classical guitar in music school at 7 years old, after 3 months studying he took part and won his first competition. After 8 years studying in music school with regular performances and completing he entered to the music college where he studied 4 years, in college he played in a different chambers and orchestras with whom he also participated and won in various competitions in Ukraine, Belarus and Hungary. In the third year of studying in college he started working in a music school in which he taught and successfully prepared children for various performances and competitions, currently he has 4 years of continuous work experience. The next educational institution was Kharkiv National University of Arts, where he studied for two years, taking part in various musical events and master classes, in 2021 he gave two big solo concerts at the Philharmonic and was nominated for a regional scholarship.

In the summer of 2022 he went to Italy where he took part in the Italian guitar campus where he played on a concert and took lessons from famous guitar teachers such as Paolo Pegoraro, Gabriel Bianco, Lucio Matarazzo and others. In 2022, he began studying at the Royal Academy of Music in the class of Professor Michael Lewen, where he continues his studies at the moment.