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Dr. Sonja Kraus is a German-born cellist, educator, and music scholar whose career spans Europe, Latin America, Asia, and the United States. She serves as Associate Professor of Cello at the University of South Dakota and is a member of the Rawlins Piano Trio. She is also orchestra manager of the International Chamber Orchestra of Puerto Rico and founder and director of Ensemble Zusammen, recipient of Second Prize in the Collegiate Chamber Music Category of The American Prize. Prior to her appointment at USD, she served as Professor of Cello at Universidad de Especialidades Espíritu Santo in Ecuador and principal cellist of the Orquesta Filarmónica Municipal de Guayaquil.
An active performer and clinician, Kraus has appeared at international festivals including Habana Clásica in Cuba, the Fresno Summer Orchestra Academy, Música para la Humanidad in Spain, and most recently served as faculty and soloist at the Cello Festival of Southern Utah. Recent international engagements include a performance and masterclass at Jeonbuk National University in South Korea, a performance at ClarinetFest in Incheon, and a guest artist appearance at the University of Saskatchewan in Canada.
As a chamber musician, Kraus has performed extensively throughout the United States and internationally, collaborating with a wide range of artists and ensembles. Highlights include appearances at the Absolute Music Chamber Series in Lansing, Michigan; Florida Gulf Coast University in Fort Myers, Florida; and the Deanery School of Music in Davenport, Iowa.
As a soloist, Kraus has appeared with orchestras in the United States and abroad. Recent highlights include Popper’s Walzer-Suite with the Festival Orchestra of the Cello Festival of Southern Utah and Brahms’s Double Concerto with the USD Symphony Orchestra, also featured at the National College Orchestra Directors Association Conference. Other appearances include Boëllmann’s Symphonic Variations, Hindemith’s Trauermusik, and Popper’s Requiem and Hungarian Rhapsody, the latter two performed in Havana, Cuba.
A sought-after clinician and pedagogue, Kraus has presented masterclasses throughout the United States and internationally, including at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, Boston Conservatory, Michigan State University, and the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. At USD, she has led significant growth of the cello program while expanding chamber music and professional opportunities for students. Her work as an artist and educator has been recognized with USD’s 2025 President’s Research Award in Creativity and the 2026 Belbas-Larson Award for Excellence in Teaching.
Cello, Chamber Music, String Pedagogy
Franz Anton Hoffmeister, Unpublished Cello Repertoire of the 18th-19th Century, Music Education in Third World Countries, Injury Rehabilitation and Prevention
