Andrew Sords has appeared for important recital series and with acclaimed orchestras worldwide. In recent seasons, he has toured to New Zealand, Mexico, Canada’s Far North, western Europe, and in nearly all of the 50 states. Uniting with his LA-based trio (John Walz, cello and Timothy Durkovic, piano), the ensemble has performed at Pasadena’s Boston Court Theater, the St. Cross Music Guild, the Beverly Hills International Music Festival, the Palm Springs Concert Series, and as soloist with various orchestras (the Brahms double/Beethoven triple concerti). Sords has recently appeared with the Traverse City Philharmonic, the Greensboro Symphony, the Salisbury Symphony, and the Signature Symphony, and will introduce the rare Strauss d minor concerto in numerous venues. Other engagements include prolific tours throughout Canada: Quebec City, Montreal, Toronto, Ottawa, Kitchener-Waterloo, Kelowna, the Yukon Territory, and Vancouver (among others), in addition to numerous evenings at Toronto’s Glenn Gould Theatre (Bruch’s “Scottish Fantasy”, Elgar concerto, Dvorak concerto). Along with pianist Cheryl Duvall, Sords will open various concert seasons in New Zealand, British Columbia, and Ontario (September/October 2026) pairing standard literature with rarities and transcriptions. 2024 recital appearances included Augusta, GA’s “Tuesday’s Live”, Harrisburg, PA’s “Arts on the Square”, Trinity Cathedral’s (OH) Bach, Dvorak, and Franck cycles, the Chamber Music Society of Mississauga, and Québec’s Hudson Série de Musique Chambre and La Société de Musique du Lakeshore. In 2022, Sords opened the Symphony of Southeast Texas’s concert season with Bruch’s “Scottish Fantasy”, returned to the Malone University Concert Series, and had a far-reaching range of recital appearances: Whitehorse Concerts (sub-Arctic Canada), Wooster’s Music on Market Series (Ohio), the Johnstown Concert Society (PA), and the Kitchener-Waterloo Chamber Music Society. Sords extensive history with the Beethoven concerto included collaborations with the Carson City Symphony, the Milwaukee Philharmonic, the Cleveland Philharmonic, and the Minnesota Philharmonic. During the pandemic, Sords returned to Mexico’s San Miguel de Allende ProMusica Series, reprised the Brahms sonata cycle at Cleveland’s Trinity Concert Series (a collaboration aired a decade before with Elizabeth DeMio), and made his Ravinia Festival début with pianist Daniel Overly (aired concurrently with a profile on the duo by Chicago’s WFMT). With concert dates on 3 continents during the 2019/20 season, Andrew Sords toured extensively with works by Beethoven: the sonata and piano trio cycles, the Triple Concerto, and the Violin Concerto in celebration of the composer’s 250th anniversary. Sords returned to the Peninsula Symphony, the North State Symphony, and the Juneau Symphony; he paired Corigliano's "Red Violin Chaconne" and Paganini's "La Campanella" with the Longwood Symphony; and presented masterclasses at the University of British Columbia, Converse College, and Idyllwild Music School. The same year, Sords made his British Columbia début with a comprehensive tour including the North Okanagan Concert Association, the Kelowna Concert Association, and the Evergreen Concert Series (Vancouver) - heralded by stellar reviews. A highlight of 2020: Sords partnered with Daniel Singer to release sleek, contemporary editions of works by Mozart, Hubay, Haydn, Ysaÿe, Sibelius, and others, available from Green Point Editions and Groth Music.

Sords has appeared with the Greensboro Symphony, El Paso Symphony, Flagstaff Symphony, Brevard Symphony, Pueblo Symphony, Spartanburg Philharmonic, Southeastern Ohio Symphony, Des Moines Orchestra, Grand Junction Symphony, Durham Chamber Orchestra, Orquesta Sinfonica de Vallarta, Longmont Symphony, Guatemala’s “Festival Bravissimo”, Oakland Symphony, Butler Philharmonic, Windsor Symphony, Motor City Symphony, Kalisz Philharmonic (Poland), Vicente Chamber Orchestra, Chattanooga Symphony, Cleveland Philharmonic, Boulder Chamber Orchestra, Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, Toronto Philharmonia, Gulf Coast Symphony, Melbourne Chamber Symphony, and a UK debut with concerts in Edinburgh and Scotland - Tchaikovsky’s concerto with the Glasgow Philharmonia (“Adding Strings to his bow”, London Times). In his hometown, Cleveland collaborations have included the Cleveland Philharmonic, Solon Philharmonic, Perrysburg Symphony, Snowbelt Symphony, Euclid Symphony, Parma Symphony, Shaker Heights Symphony, Heights Chamber Orchestra, Lakeland Orchestra, Earth and Air String Orchestra, Mansfield Symphony, and the Brahms and Schumann sonata cycles for the Cathedral Concert Series. Sords’ July 4th outdoor appearances have included shows with the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra and an audience of 30,000, while a 2018 collaboration with the El Paso Symphony had 15,000 onlookers - both evenings featured the Tchaikovsky concerto. No stranger to presenting obscure concerti, a debut with the Boulder Chamber Orchestra and the Arensky concerto had Opus Colorado declaring: “[Sords’] remarkably flexible bow arm and relaxed left hand created the impression that he was having no difficulty whatsoever”.

As a prolific recitalist, Sords has appeared in La Jolla, Washington, D.C., Maui, New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, Dallas, and at St. Augustine’s (FL) EMMA Series at Flagler College. Sords has toured to Australia with concerti by Mendelssohn, Mozart, and Vaughan-Williams, as well as virtuoso programs for the Brunswick Beethoven Festival and the Arden Crescent Series. The Brahms “Double” concerto has been a popular vehicle of late: Sords has been featured with cellists John Walz, Joseph Johnson, Sawyer Thomson, and Michael DeBruyn in recent performances. A 2015 Canada tour with the Mendelssohn Piano Trios and Violin Sonata was reprised in 2017 with all-Brahms programs in Oshawa, Montreal, Guelph, and Toronto. First invited by San Miguel de Allende’s (Mexico) ProMusica Series in 2011, Sords has returned with six varied recitals, and with pianist Eriko Izumida, the two returned to West Palm Beach’s Norton Museum Series and the Sounds of Oberlin Concert Series. Sords has been a frequent soloist in the Caribbean, appearing in Puerto Rico, Anguilla, St. Croix, St. Maarten, Trinidad and Tobago, Grand Cayman, and the U.S. Virgin Islands - “STRINGS MAGAZINE” profiled the residency with the Trinidad and Tobago Youth Philharmonic.

A man of diverse interests and passionate about social causes, Sords has competed in the charity fundraiser “Pittsburgh’s Dancing With The Stars” as the first classical artist to do so, and has performed numerous times for LGBT outreach, including collaborations with LGBT ensembles (Minnesota Philharmonic, the Bay Area Rainbow Symphony, and the Atlanta Philharmonic). Along with Liana Izakadze’s World Virtuosi, Sords appeared in Carnegie Hall’s Zankel Hall, and performed the Sibelius and Dvorak concerti in appearances with the Jackson Symphony and Brevard Symphony. Sords is a popular guest for various media platforms: featured four times on Sirius XM’s Derek and Romaine Show; profiled by “OUT Magazine”, NPR’S Morning Edition, Australia’s ABC Music Now, Cleveland’s WCLV, and Colorado Public Radio; Sords also performed the National Anthem for ESPN2’s WNBA Pride Game (2014) and a sold-out Cleveland Indians game at Progressive Field. Sords’s recent collaboration with Sean Christopher on the New-Age album “Transcendence” has been a commercial and critical success, with reviews stating: “much of this is owed to the gorgeous and precise playing by Andrew Sords, whose violin adds a thrumming undercurrent of pure life throughout the album’s stainless steel structure.” This album is available on iTunes, Amazon.com, and CDBaby.

Born in Newark, Delaware, Sords was raised in Shaker Heights, Ohio, and asked for piano lessons at age five. Shortly thereafter, Sords commenced violin lessons, and his studies led him to the ENCORE School for Strings, the Cleveland Institute of Music, and Southern Methodist University, studying primarily with Linda Cerone and David Russell. As a teenager, Sords garnered prizes from concerto competitions (including the NFMC National Competition and the Pittsburgh Society Career Grant), signed with management, and cultivated a media and audience following from innumerable interviews, profiles, and appearances. Following Sords’ debut in Australia, the Melbourne Age declared, “Sords made a voluble soloist in Mozart's Turkish concerto, forging his statements with an admirably firm clarity and bringing out the work's virtuosity as often as possible. His bowing arm showed an attractive suppleness and an attention to variety of phrasing that made even the episodic finale a pleasure.” Sords makes his home in Chagrin Falls, Ohio, and his website yields up-to-date news and touring activities: http://www.andrewsords.com.