in improvised music and jazz, Rei decided to come to the United States to continue her education. In 2001, she moved to Boston to study jazz and improvisation at the New England Conservatory of Music. There, her teachers included Charlie Banacos, Danilo Perez, Dominique Eade, Steve Lacy, Bob Moses and Jerry Bergonzi. Encouraged by one of her teachers, George Russell, Rei began to write her own music. While at the conservatory, she met bassist Jorge Roeder, with whom she frequently collaborates. She graduated from the New England Conservatory with a Master's in Jazz and Improvisation in 2003. Career In 2003, while living in Boston, Rei, Roeder, and drummer "Coqui" Perez-Albela formed Avantrio to explore the music of Peruvian composers such as Chabuca Granda, Felipe Pinglo and Nicomedes Santa Cruz. The concept was later expanded to include South American folk music, especially from Argentina and Brazil. Rei created the Sofia Koutsovitis Group, an octet which also included Roeder and Coqui Pérez Albela, along with Leo Genovese on piano, Jason Palmer on trumpet, Adam Schneit on alto sax, Dan Blake on soprano and tenor sax, and Richie Barshay on drums. Rei moved to New York in 2005, and in 2006 toured internationally with the Maria Schneider Jazz Orchestra. Her debut album, Ojalá, recorded with an octet, was released that same year. Composed of arrangements of her own compositions and songs by Argentinean, Brazilian and Cuban composers, the album was named one of the year's Top 10 records by The Jazz Journalist's Association. All About Jazz described it as "eclectic and exciting," and wrote that it "exemplifies the recent trends in Latin Jazz and Latin American music in general, and proves why Sofia Koutsovitis is one of the most versatile and in-demand singers in the New York music scene." In 2008, she sang with Bobby McFerrin in Instant Opera, a piece commissioned by John Zorn, at Carnegie Hall. She also collaborated with Geoff Keezer on his Grammy-nominated album, Aurea. In 2009, Rei released her second album, Sube Azul. She wrote eight of the twelve tracks which appeared on Sube Azul, and co-produced the album with Roeder. Allmusic wrote: "Koutsovitis employs a sort of South American bohemian aura, using hip cultural landmarks, feelings of love and regret, and an expanded color palette to weave some magical spells over anyone who comes close to her muse...As an individual, she's hard to compare to any predecessor,