About Sophie

I grew up in a musical family, immersed in both music and nature. I was often outside, digging in the dirt or running around in the woods making forts out of hemlock bows with my little brother. I was a part of our family band, led by my Mum, consisting of her, me, and my three brothers. We played for dances, local nursing homes, fairs, etc.​​​​ ​​around New Hampshire and New England.​ Every Thursday for my entire childhood until I left for college, we had a weekly dinner with contra dance legend Bob McQuillen who drove over from Peterborough in his jeep with his accordion. Bob taught each of us back-up piano and we would all play tunes together after dinner.

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In college, inspired by my Gram, Marjorie McBride, I pursued a love of birds and studied ornithology at Cornell. I fell in love with field biology (not surprisingly, given my penchant for the outdoors), and spent several field seasons chasing birds in Ithaca, NY and Malaysian Borneo. Since then, I have done fieldwork in California, the Florida Everglades, and the arid bush of Australia--always focused on birds. I have also continued to play lots of music, of course, including Scandinavian, New England, and Celtic traditions on the fiddle, hardanger d'amore, and nyckelharpa.

Now I also have the great privilege of testing out Dev's amazing instruments, taking pictures of them, and managing the website!