Sonia Marie De Leon De Vega

Birthplace: San Antonio, Texas

Instrument: Orchestra, piano and organ

Age I started studying my instrument:  5 years old

How did you choose your instrument?  My dad was a musician and I wanted to be like him. My brother started music lessons, so I wanted lessons too. He selected the saxophone – I chose the piano.

Education: Life

Favorite composers:  Beethoven, Brahms and Arturo Marquez

What’s on my iPod:  Besides classical music I love all kinds of music from Arabic, Hawaiian, & romantic Spanish music to musica ranchera, Gregorian chant, Chinese Music, Rap and Rock.

Your favorite weekend: I love traveling, so my favorite weekend would consist of being somewhere else in the world, perhaps swimming at Ke’e beach on the island of Kauai or having a glass of wine at a bistro in Paris.  At home, I like to spend time with my husband and son, gardening, playing board games, building puzzles, watching or going out to the movies and always the bookstore! My weekend starts spending Friday evenings at my sister’s house having “Viernes social” with our families, my mother and our neighbors. Sunday is my favorite day to relax and share a special meal.

My favorite books are:  I love to read. Most recently my favorite book is Snow Girl by Eowyn Ivey. I’ve read all books by Lisa See. I love her writing and everything about Chinese History.

My favorite movies are:  Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit and foreign films, most especially French films.

My favorite food is:  I love to cook, so I try many foods. Brag alert:  I’m a great cook and I could cook anything and recreate any dish I taste. I have a vast collection of cookbooks that I read to get ideas and inspiration. I cook food from all around the world. My favorite days are spent making long elaborate meals or making my own bread, butter and jam.

My favorite cartoon character or superhero is:  Leela from Futurama by Matt Groening. She shows great leadership, is commanding, very smart, funny, witty, sarcastic and strong minded.

A fun fact about me is:  I love to write and I write a lot about travel. I blog when I travel and as a hobby, I am a travel expert on a very well known travel website.

What is unique about Santa Cecilia Orchestra? We have passionate musicians and an incredibly enthusiastic audience, largely made up of families. I love looking out into the audience and seeing children with their moms, dads and grandparents enjoying wonderful concerts together.