Sophia Rahman studied at the Yehudi Menuhin School with Peter Norris and Louis Kentner. After taking a first class honours degree in English at King's College London, she completed her studies at the Royal Academy of Music with Alexander Kelly and Malcolm Martineau. She was elected an associate of the RAM in 1997.

Since winning the Royal Overseas League Competition's Accompanist Award and the Liza Fuchsova Memorial Prize for a chamber music pianist in consecutive years, her work has encompassed a wide range of solo and chamber activities. She is a founder member of the acclaimed Plane-Dukes-Rahman Trio (clarinet, viola, piano), currently Artists-in-Residence at Queen's University, Belfast. She acts as an official accompanist for organisations such as the Lionel Tertis International Viola Competition, and the Barbirolli International Oboe Competition and has appeared with the chamber ensembles of the English Chamber Orchestra, Northern Sinfonia, London Mozart Players, and with the Soloists of the Royal Opera House. She is a member of the Pirasti piano trio and a chamber music coach at the Lilla Akademien, Stockholm. As concerto soloist she has toured with the Scottish Ensemble, in works by Mozart and Shostakovich. She has appeared at all the London recital halls and many across Europe, including the Concertgebouw, Koelner Philharmonie and Musikverein, Wien. She has tourned South America, the Indian sub-continent and given a recital tour of Japan with the clarinettist Karl Leister.

She has broadcast for BBC Radio 3, Classic FM, All-India, Estonian, Netherlands and Portuguese Radio, and for BBC, Japanese and Turkish television, and has played and presented a Debussy Prelude as part of a BBC TV children's education series. She has recorded several chamber music discs for ASV, Naxos and Dutton, and Shostakovich's first piano concerto with the Scottish Ensemble for Linn records.