Dr. Sonja Kraus, a native of Germany, is an internationally acclaimed cellist, teacher, and music scholar, whose concertizing and teaching career has taken her through Europe, Asia, Latin America, and the United States.

Currently, Kraus holds the position of Assistant Professor of Cello/Bass at the University of South Dakota and is the cellist in the renowned Rawlins Piano Trio. Prior to joining the faculty at the University of South Dakota, Kraus was the Cello Professor at the Universidad de Especialidades Espíritu Santo as well as the principal cellist of the Orquesta Filarmónica Municipal de Guayaqil in Ecuador.

Kraus holds her bachelor’s in Cello Performance and Pedagogy from the State University of Music and Performing Arts in Stuttgart (Germany) as well as a master’s and doctoral degree from the Jacobs School of Music – Indiana University Bloomington where she studied with Prof. Emilio Colón, the 2017 Artist of the year by the New York Classical Music Society. 

Kraus is a sought-out performer, clinician, and instructor of masterclasses throughout the US, Latin America, and Germany with invitations to the Colegio Universitario San Gerónimo de La Habana (Cuba), Conservatorio de Música de Puerto Rico, Jacobs School of Music – Indiana University (IN), Chapman University (CA), and University of Lincoln (NE). Kraus participated in several music festivals around the world including Habana Clásica, the International Chamber Orchestra of Puerto Rico, and the Fresno Summer Orchestra Academy.

As a researcher, Kraus focuses on broadening the cello repertoire by identifying manuscripts and creating editions of unpublished cello works from the classical era, currently focusing on three Cello Concertos by Franz Anton Hoffmeister.