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Violist Cynthia Phelps on studying with William Primrose and Donald McInnes

2022-08-22T23:00:00

Cynthia Phelps

For some players, only the viola sound will do. But to bring out its full power, the New York Philharmonic violist sought help from a number of teachers, writes Ariane Todes

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I started on violin when I was four, with Sybil Maxwell. She was very strict when it came to etudes and scales, so I got a solid background. But I wasn’t happy playing the violin because the sound was not suitable to my ears – I just didn’t like the E string. So when I was eleven I switched to viola and I was much happier...

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