French violist Cynthia Blanchon divides her time between North America and Europe, dedicating herself to various artistic endeavors. Since 2023, Cynthia has been a viola professor at Université de Montréal and is an active chamber musician as a member of the Myriade Quartet.
She is a graduate from Université de Montréal where she obtained her doctorate degree with Jutta Puchhammer, from the Colburn School and the CNSMD Lyon with Françoise Gnéri.
Today, she performs on a Andrej Kalata viola and a Arnaud Suard bow.
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She’s been invited to numerous chamber music festivals including the Colorado Music Festival, Music & Beyond, Festival Classica, ProMusica Serie, Concerts aux Îles du Bic, Rencontres Musicales de Laterrière, Rencontres Musicales de Haute-Provence, and Entre Vents et Marais festival and performed alongside renowned artists such as Jan Talich and Petr Prause from the Talich quartet, Scott St. John, Martin Chalifour, Rainer Küchl…She is also regularly broadcasted on Radio Canada.
As an experienced orchestral musician, Cynthia held the principal viola position with the Orchestra de l’Agora for six years. She has also served as a guest principal with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, the Welsh National Opera, and the Thirteen Strings Ensemble. Her collaborations include performances with the London Symphony Orchestra alongside distinguished conductors such as Sir Simon Rattle, Yannick Nezet-Seguin, Valery Gergiev, Esa-Pekka Salonen, and Vassily Petrenko. Her concert venues have included prestigious locations such as Suntory Hall, Walt Disney Concert Hall, Musikverein, Elbphilharmonie, Sydney Opera House, and Philharmonie de Paris.
With a doctorate completed with distinction under the guidance of Jutta Puchhammer and Juan-Miguel Hernandez, Cynthia’s musical journey began at the age of 16 when she enrolled at the CNSMD in Lyon. She further refined her skills at the Colburn School in Los Angeles. Driven by a passion for learning, Cynthia had the privilege of working with renowned violists such as Hartmut Rhode, Gilad Karni, Hariold Schlichtig, and Maxim Rysanov. Despite the COVID-19 pandemic causing the cancellation of her participation in the Prussia Cove festival twice, Cynthia had previously performed at the Pacific Music Festival in 2018.
As a teacher, on top of her activities at Université de Montréal, she taught at Music at Port Milford and at CAMMAC festival as well as coached some local youth orchestras.
After making her debut as a soloist at age 7 with the Telemann viola concerto, she recently performed the Brandenburg concerto no.6 with Orchestre de l’Agora. Recipient of several national awards, including the Lempdes, Toulouse, and Mouans-Sartoux competitions, Cynthia won the Mécénat Musical Société Général competition in 2015. This prize granted her the opportunity to play on a Von Baehr viola for three years. Presently, Cynthia performs on a Kalata viola crafted in 2016 and on a bow made by Arnaud Suard in 2008.
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