Sophia Rosoff
classical piano teacher
Sophia Rosoff was a New York classical piano teacher; Barry studied with her from the early 1980s, after Joseph Prostakoff died, and was still her pupil at 85, when she was 95.
- mentions
- 3
- recordings
- 3
- Barry speaking
- 0
What Barry says
After Joseph Prostakoff died in the early 1980s, Barry went to Sophia. She came from the same teacher as Prostakoff, he says, so with her his training carried on.
Barry Harris, Smithsonian Jazz Oral History Program ¶247Barry Harris, Smithsonian Jazz Oral History Program ¶249Barry Harris, Smithsonian Jazz Oral History Program ¶255
Barry calls her a good teacher whose work was much the same as Prostakoff’s, though each had taken different things from the woman who taught them both. From the two he learned to play with an ease where you never feel anything in your fingers, and he never had carpal tunnel trouble.
He describes himself in those years as a man in his sixties and seventies still taking piano lessons.
In 2010 Barry says that when Sophia fell ill it threw him off, and that he had not yet recovered. He holds that every musician should have a piano teacher, to keep working on something.
Asked in 2015 whether he really still took piano lessons at 85, Barry said yes: his teacher was Sophia Rosoff, a classical pianist of 95. A real jazz musician keeps learning every day, he added, and lessons keep him sharp.
Victor L. Schermer (interviewer); Barry Harris, Barry Harris: Iconic Jazz Pianist and Keeper of the Flame ¶30Victor L. Schermer (interviewer); Barry Harris, Barry Harris: Iconic Jazz Pianist and Keeper of the Flame ¶31
In his own words
Yes, my teacher is Sophia Rosoff. She’s 95 years old. She’s a classical pianist, and I’m always trying to learn and develop.
I left him and went to Sophia, and she came from the same person that he came from. The both came from the same person.
I went to her, and she was a good teacher, too. And hers was about the same kind of stuff, you know.
When Sophia got sick, that’s what threw me off. So she got sick, and I got thrown off. I haven’t recovered yet, you know.
Every mention
3 moments in the recordings, 0 of them Barry speaking. Each says who is talking.
Barry Harris Funeral
- 52:25
Someone else
A funeral speaker, taught by Barry at Jazzmobile in 1968, says they shared a classical teacher, ‘Sophia Rosen’.
The Great Pianist Barry Harris’ Funeral At Abyssinian Baptist Church In Harlem
- 38:34
Someone else
The same funeral speech in another recording; the captions garble her name (‘it’s a fighter’).
Passing It On
- 7:02
Someone else
Passing It On narration: Barry the teacher is also a student of classical music; the captions never name his teacher.
In the interviews and notes
Barry left Prostakoff’s teaching for Sophia’s when Prostakoff died; since both came from the same teacher, his training carried on with her.
Barry Harris, Smithsonian Jazz Oral History Program ¶247Barry Harris, Smithsonian Jazz Oral History Program ¶248
Barry says her teaching resembled Prostakoff’s, both having learned from one woman, and that the two taught him to play without strain, so that he never developed hand injuries like carpal tunnel.
Barry says he went to Sophia in the early 1980s and had been taking piano lessons for a long time; her illness interrupted them and left him unsettled.
At 85 Barry confirmed he still took piano lessons, with Sophia Rosoff, then 95, a classical pianist; he said the lessons keep him sharp.
Victor L. Schermer (interviewer); Barry Harris, Barry Harris: Iconic Jazz Pianist and Keeper of the Flame ¶30Victor L. Schermer (interviewer); Barry Harris, Barry Harris: Iconic Jazz Pianist and Keeper of the Flame ¶31
García-Valdecasas notes that the documentary Passing It On shows Barry playing Chopin’s Etude op. 10 no. 1 and Prelude op. 28 no. 1 with his teacher Sophia Rosoff, whom he describes as a disciple of Abby Whiteside.
De Lima cites the 2015 Schermer interview to show that Barry, a veteran of 85, was still taking piano lessons with Rosoff.
Method ideas nearby
Ideas of the method taught in the classes where they come up, with how many mentions fall in each.