Cynthia Phelps

“Not only does CYNTHIA PHELPS produce one of the richest, deepest viola timbres in the world, she is a superb musician” (Seattle Post-Intelligencer). Principal Violist of the New York Philharmonic, Ms. Phelps has distinguished herself both here and abroad as one of the leading instrumentalists of our time.  The recipient of numerous honors and awards, including the Pro Musicis International Award and first prize at both the Lionel Tertis International Viola Competition and the Washington International String Competition, she has captivated audiences with her compelling solo and chamber music performances. She is “a performer of top rank…the sounds she drew were not only completely unproblematical –technically faultless, generously nuanced– but sensuously breathtaking” (The Boston Globe).

Ms. Phelps performs throughout the world as soloist with orchestras, including the Minnesota Orchestra, Shanghai, San Diego, Santa Barbara, Eastern Music Festival and Vermont Symphonies, Orquesta Sinfonica de Bilbao, and Rochester and Hong Kong Philharmonic among others.  World-wide, her electrifying solo appearances with the New York Philharmonic garner raves; they have included Berlioz’s Harold in Italy, the Bartok Viola Concerto, Strauss’s Don Quixote, the Benjamin Lees Concerto for String Quartet, the premiere of a concerto written for her by Sofia Gubaidulina and most recently, the premiere of a new concerto by the young composer Julia Adolphe written for her. She has appeared as soloist with the orchestra across the globe, including Vienna’s Musikverein, London’s Royal Festival Hall, and the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam among others.

She has become a familiar and much-admired figure at the world’s foremost concert venues, appearing in recital in Paris, Rome, Los Angeles, Boston and Washington, at New York’s Alice Tully Hall, London’s Wigmore Hall, St. David’s Hall in Cardiff, Wales, as well as in jails, hospitals, and drug rehab centers worldwide.  A compelling performer of traditional works, she’s also an advocate of the music of our time, including premieres by Larry Lipkis, for piano quintet and solo viola, and two works by Stephen Paulus, one solo and one commissioned for her by the Tucson Winter Chamber Music Festival for viola and the American String Quartet and for piano quintet.

She has collaborated with such artists as Itzhak Perlman, Pinchas Zukerman, Yo-Yo Ma, Lynn Harrell, and Yefim Bronfman, among others.  A much sought-after chamber musician, she performs regularly with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, the Boston Chamber Music Society, the Guarneri, American, Brentano, St. Lawrence and Prague String Quartets, and the Kalichstein-Robinson-Laredo Trio.  She has appeared at the Mostly Mozart, Marlboro, Ravinia, La Jolla, Bravo! Colorado, Santa Fe, and Seattle Festivals, as well as in Europe at the Naples, Cremona, and Schleswig-Holstein Festivals.  She is a founding member of the chamber group Les Amies, a flute-harp-viola trio formed with harpist Nancy Allen and flutist Carol Wincenc, and a member of the newly-formed New York Philharmonic String Quartet.  She has also been heard on National Public Radio’s St. Paul Sunday Morning, Radio France, and RAI in Italy, and has been featured on The MacNeil/Lehrer News Hour, Live from Lincoln Center, and CBS Sunday Morning.

A devoted educator, Ms. Phelps is on the faculty of The Juilliard School, Mannes and the Music Academy of the West.  Her most recent album, for flute, viola, and harp, on Telarc, was nominated for a Grammy Award.  Her debut solo recording is on Cala Records, and she can also be heard on the Marlboro Recording Society, Polyvideo, Nuova Era, Virgin Classics, and Koch, and New York Philharmonic labels.

Violist CYNTHIA PHELPS‘s versatile career includes appearances as chamber musician, soloist, and as Principal Violist of the New York Philharmonic, with which she has appeared as soloist on major stages across the globe, performing an extensive repertoire including 2 specially commissioned works; a concerto by composer Julia Adolphe, which also premiered at the Eastern Music Festival, and a double concerto commissioned for her with Associate Principal violist Rebecca Young by the acclaimed Russian composer 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, Orquesta Sinfonica de Bilbao, and Hong Kong Philharmonic. She has collaborated internationally with such artists as Itzhak Perlman, Emmanual 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 Tisch Center for the Arts at the 92nd Street Y, as well as with ensembles including the Kalichstein-Laredo-Robinson Trio, the Guarneri, American, and Brentano String Quartets. She is a frequent guest at the Marlboro, Summerfest LaJolla, 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 and her recordings can be heard on the Marlboro Recording Society, Covenant, Nuova Era, Polyvideo, Virgin Classics, and Cala labels, and itunes, in a recording of Harold in Italy with the New York Philharmonic.