Unbelievable Vocal Control, Natural Beauty and the energy and stage presence necessary to be a superstar! says Grammy
Award winner, Deniece Williams. This is followed by accolades from stars like Evelyn Champagne King, Gene Chandler,
GQ, The Manhattans, The Delfonics and many other legends with whom the 21-year-old Sophia Maria is currently touring.

But where did Sophia Maria come from? Unless you are from her hometown of Las Vegas, her name may be unfamiliar
to you, but in Vegas she is already a star. At 11, she was the youngest singer to ever perform as a regular on the Strip,
having sung for a year and a half at the Debbie Reynolds Casino. When she was 10, UNLV asked her to perform in the
operatic role of Amal inAmal and the Night Visitor. She was so compelling in the role as the 10 year old boy, that they
asked her to do it again the following year.Although I loved the role, it was a little difficult to keep playing it after that
season,Sophia laughs.

Managed by her dad, Russ Ricciardelli, Sophia became a staple of the Vegas scene, doing local television, parades and
showcases. Russ heard of an upcoming music business seminar and attended, where he met industry veteran, Rhonda
Bedikian. Rhonda was amazed at the talent of such a young girl, and eventually joined the team. Sophia Maria has already
caught the attention of the major labels, but her management team is holding out for the terms they say are deserving of
Sophia's extremely high level of talent.

In 2001, Sophia's demo cd / promo package was sent to Alan Beck, founder and president of Pacific Concert Group. Alan
was so blown away by Sophia's voice and picture that he decided to make the hop over from LA to Vegas to meet Sophia
in person. “I sat in on a recording session and I just couldn't believe that this 15 year old girl could have such a developed
and sophisticated voice, so pure and filled with such richness. Plus she was absolutely beautiful! Beck decided to put her
on a series of shows he had scheduled and let her open.The first night in Tucson was great, not a hitch”, says Beck,
unfortunately, our luck didn't hold. The second evening in El Paso, Sophia's music tracks started to skip. Sophia was all
alone on stage and she stopped the sound man. When the track skipped again, she decided to take matters into her own
hands. 'Mr. Sound Man,' she said, 'I don't need the music'. She then turned to an audience of over 5000 people, had them
clap the beat and belted out the ballad a cappella. The audience went wild. “That's when I knew she was a pro.” Beck,
through his independent label, ITP Records immediately offered to get involved on the recording side of her career and is
convinced that it's just a matter of time before all the Major labels will be calling us! Sophia Maria, whose heritage is
Mexican and Italian, wanted to incorporate a love of Latin beats with her R&B vocal style.It is so refreshing to see a great
singer with a style that is important to her which incorporates who she is and where she comes from.

Sophia began writing her own lyrics and is collaborating with seasoned writers and producers, including music veteran
Rudy Salas, David Salas, Rudy Hauserman,Carlos Guillen, MC Blvd , Joe Wolf and others..Through my touring with Pacific
Concert Group and performing along side so many legendary R&B artists, “I am getting the experience to develop my own
show that we will take out on the road when my first album breaks out! In the last six months though, I have performed in
over 15 cities nationwide and in front of at least 100,000 people in Phoenix, Tucson, El Paso, Indio, Palm Springs, San Diego, San Bernardino, Las Vegas, Bakersfield, and Denver to name a few.
But the most important thing for me now is to take my time and build my fan base up and allow myself to be me, not an
image that a record company wants me to be. I love touring with these legends and learning from them. Deniece and Evelyn
have taken me under their wings and helped me to understand what they went through as young women in this business.
My family is very supportive. God gave me a gift of song, and since I was a little girl, my father has told me to never go to
sleep without thanking God for this gift”.

In 2006, Sophia was introduced to MC Magic of NB Ridaz at one of the Pacific Concert Group shows. Magic quickly became
a believer in Sophia and was blown away by her vocal ability and class. WIthin a few months of that meeting , the two of
them collaborated and have been working hard together to debut Sophia's new material. The pairing of these two great
talents has put Sophia back in the studio where a new album and video has been produced and Sophia is getting ready to
promote her new single "Forget About Her" which will make 2007, Sophia's year to break through on the national scene.