Sophia Grobler, born in South Africa, made her debut as soloist with the South African National Chamber Orchestra at age 18. She majored in both piano and violin as undergraduate student, and was the winner of numerous prizes, awards and scholarships during the course of her studies. She continued her studies in the U.S., focusing on piano performance.

Her major teachers were Frank Weinstock at the University of Cincinnati, CCM; Truida van der Walt, and Caroline Oltmanns. Her performances were heard on WCLV (Cleveland) and WYSU (Youngstown). She continues to perform internationally as soloist and collaborative pianist. Sophia is currently doing research on the development of the piano waltz as it lead to Ravel's La Valse - a work which is often interpreted to represent the “death” of the waltz. She has lectured on this topic at the College Music Society’s National Conference in Atlanta, GA in 2008. She also has a special interest in New Music which started during her undergraduate studies in South Africa where she often performed works by South African composers. She has performed in numerous New Music Festivals in Cincinnati, at Heidelberg University and in South Africa, with featured composers such as Karel Husa, P.Q. Phan, Rzewski and Kaia Saarijaho.

Sophia is also part of the Westhuizen piano duo, with her husband Pierre van der Westhuizen. As duo, they have performed across the U.S. and South Africa, where they also teach master classes. Their interest in New Music has led them to premiere numerous works by young South African and American composers. They were the first piano duo to receive fellowships as Young Artists at the prestigious PianoTexas International Academy and Festival, and were Shouse Artists at the Great Lakes Chamber Music Festival in 2007, sharing the stage with artists such as Ann Schein, Wu Han, Jeremy Denk and James Tocco. They have received master classes from artists such as Emanuel Ax, Janos Starker, James Tocco, The Pridonoff Duo, Alan and Alvin Chow and Awadagin Pratt. Their performances were heard on WGTE (Toledo), Radio sonder Grense and ClassicFM. They featured as guest artists at the Volksblad Arts Festival, Grahamstown National Arts Festival, UNISA concert series and Northwest University in South Africa, as well as OSU/Port Clinton Arts Festival in Ohio, Firelands Concert Series, Lakeside Summer Music Festival, St. Mary's College in Indiana and the Dame Myra Hess Memorial Concert Series in Chicago, which was broadcast live on NPR. The duo has just finished a recording project of Francis Poulenc’s music for two pianos for AMP Records.

Sophia will be teaching and performing at the Cleveland Institute of Music’s Summer Sonata Festival in 2010, with her husband as the Westhuizen Duo. She currently serves on the faculty of Heidelberg University, as Assistant Professor of Piano and Co-Coordinator of the Keyboard Division.