Dr. Sophie Lee

Dr Sophie Lee is a Lecturer and Musicianship & Early Years Coordinator at the Royal Irish Academy of Music. Sophie began her music education at RIAM where she studied piano with Professor Thérèse Fahy (1999–2016) and violin with Geraldine O’Grady, Eyal Kless, and Maeve Broderick (1999–2001). She was a multiple prize-winner at Feis Ceoil, winning the Senior Pianoforte Solo (2015) and Elsner Memorial Cup (2016). Sophie went on to study Music at Trinity College Dublin, graduating with First Class Honours in 2015, and was awarded a Licentiate of the Royal Irish Academy of Music (LRIAM) in piano teaching the same year. Sophie graduated with distinction from the MSc in Performance. Science at the Royal College of Music, London in 2018. She completed her PhD in Music Therapy at the University of Limerick from 2018–2021, funded by the Irish Research Council.

Sophie is a passionate music educator and firmly believes that a musical education is hugely beneficial for all. She has a wide range of teaching experience, from early years to postgraduate education. She taught privately, at schools in Dublin including the High School Dublin, St. Louis Rathmines, and Mezzo Music Academy, at the University of Limerick, and at RIAM, before becoming a full-time member of the musicianship faculty at RIAM in 2021. Sophie developed RIAM’s first baby and toddler music courses, which have run successfully since 2019, and has facilitated numerous music workshops and camps for young children around Ireland. She is a Board Member of Sing Ireland.

Sophie is fascinated with the interaction between music, health and wellbeing. She has worked as a musician in healthcare since 2015 for organisations including Breathe Arts Health Research UK, Children’s Health Ireland, and Arts & Health at Tallaght University Hospital, where she runs the Soothing Sounds Live Music Programme. Sophie regularly presents at conferences and public seminars, and as a guest lecturer on her research and work in this field. Her doctoral research investigated the effects of group singing on the health and wellbeing of people living with dementia and their family carers. Publications are detailed below,