Photo by Richard Bowditch
Cynthia Phelps, viola
Violist Cynthia Phelps’ versatile career includes appearances as chamber musician, soloist, and as Principal Violist of the New York Philharmonic. With the Philharmonic, she has appeared as soloist on major stages across the globe, performing an extensive repertoire including two specially commissioned works: a concerto by Julia Adolphe; and a double concerto commissioned for her with Associate Principal Violist Rebecca Young by Sofia Gubaidulina, among other repertoire. She has also been featured in several nationwide Live from Lincoln Center telecasts with the Philharmonic and Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, and on National Public Radio, Radio France, and RAI in Italy. Other solo appearances include the Minnesota Orchestra, Shanghai, Vermont, and San Diego Symphonies, Bilbao Orkestra Sinfonikoa, and Hong Kong Philharmonic. She has collaborated internationally with such artists as Itzhak Perlman, Emanuel Ax, Pinchas Zukerman, Gil Shaham, Yo-Yo Ma, Lynn Harrell, and Yefim Bronfman, among many others, and has given recitals in the major music capitals across the globe.
A much sought-after chamber musician, she performs regularly with the Boston Chamber Music Society, Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, and at New York’s 92nd Street Y, as well as with ensembles including the Kalichstein-Laredo-Robinson Trio, and the Guarneri, American, and Brentano String Quartets. She is a frequent guest at the Marlboro, La Jolla’s Summerfest, Bridgehampton, Vail, Mostly Mozart, Santa Fe, Cremona, and Schleswig-Holstein festivals, and is a founding member of Les Amies, a flute-harp-viola trio.
Ms. Phelps’ many honors include First Prize in both the Lionel Tertis International Viola Competition and the Washington National Competition, and she is a recipient of the Pro Musicis International Award. Her most recent recording, Air, for flute, harp, and viola, was nominated for a Grammy Award. She can be heard on the Marlboro Recording Society, Covenant, Nuova Era, Polyvideo, Virgin Classics, and Cala labels, as well as iTunes.