A new scholarship for emerging female, trans and non-binary creatives in memory of SOPHIE has been launched by the organisation We Are Moving The Needle.
The fund will award financial support to college students in audio engineering and production who specialise in electronic music. The organisation says they hope to “carry forward SOPHIE’s legacy of breaking boundaries and championing underrepresented voices”.
Since 2021, We Are Moving The Needle has awarded more than $600,000 in scholarships to women and non-binary people to enable them to attend workshops and programmes in order to advance their careers in music.
“A Resonator Hall of Fame inductee, SOPHIE’s legacy is a beacon of inspiration to countless creators and her innovations continue to shape the future of music,” a statement on the scholarship fund says. “We are thrilled to celebrate her indelible mark as it lives on in the next generation of trailblazers.”
Alongside other scholarship funds, the successful applicants will receive $5,000 to $10,000 in financial support. US citizens or residents can apply here, until April 27.
The Glasgow-born hyperpop pioneer died in January 2021 at the age of 34 after falling from a roof in Athens while attempting to watch the full moon. A posthumous self-titled album was released in September.
In February, Charli XCX paid tribute to her late collaborator after having a hugely successful night at the BRITs.
While accepting the award for Best Dance Act, she nodded to those who inspired her, saying: “Shout out to Justice, Daft Punk, SebastiAn, Honey Dijon, Robyn, Arca, M.I.A, Autechre, Aphex Twin & of course, someone who none of us would be here without, SOPHIE.”
Her album ‘Brat‘ featured ‘So I’, a song written in memory of SOPHIE. Prior to its release, Charli told NME: “It’s probably not as simply put as [a tribute] but there is a song on the record which talks about my relationship with SOPHIE.
“Essentially, dealing with grief is what the song is about. It’s very real. All the lyrics are things that I would text my friends – the kind of dialogue and the voice of this record is very conversational and very diar-etic for sure.”
Charli and SOPHIE worked together on many projects, beginning in 2015 with the former’s ‘Vroom Vroom’ EP. They went on to collaborate on the singles ‘After the Afterparty’, ‘No Angel’, and ‘Girls Night Out’, as well as the ‘Number 1 Angel’ tracks ‘Roll With Me’ and ‘Lipgloss’, and ‘Pop 2’ track ‘Out of My Head’.
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