Cynthia Burton
First Violin
A native of Banner Elk, NC, violinist Cynthia Burton joined the Charlotte Symphony in 2023. She was previously a member of the Louisville Orchestra (2020-23), where she contributed to the Grammy Award-winning album, The American Project with Yuja Wang. She was a member of the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra from 2018 to 2021. She also performs with the North Carolina Symphony and Charleston Symphony.
Recently, Burton has spent her summers performing with the Lakes Area Music Festival, Britt Festival Orchestra, and Charlottesville Opera. Her career has also been enriched through fellowships at the Spoleto Festival Orchestra, Britten Pears Orchestra, and Tanglewood Music Center, where she shared the stage with luminaries including Yo-Yo Ma, Emanuel Ax, Gil Shaham, Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos, and Christoph von Dohnányi.
Burton is an alumna of the prestigious orchestral fellowship program, New World Symphony. As a member of NWS, she toured Carnegie Hall and The Kennedy Center with Michael Tilson Thomas and Anne-Sophie Mutter and appeared in a wide variety of principal and small-ensemble roles. Burton was featured in the multimedia theatrical production Stereo|Blind, and was a soloist in Biber’s Battalia a 9 “Sonata di Marche” under the direction of Eric Jacobsen. She also coached in the New World Symphony’s exchange program at the Academia Filarmonica de Medellin.
Burton earned a Master's of Music from San Francisco Conservatory with Wei He, where she received additional mentorship from members of the Kronos and Concord Quartets. During her years in the Bay Area, Burton performed with California Symphony, Marin Symphony, and One Found Sound, and taught at The Crowden School.
She received a Bachelor's of Music from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with Dr. Richard Luby as part of the inaugural class of Kenan Music Scholars.
Other significant mentors include Dan Carlson, Catherine Van Hoesen, Mark Sokol, and David Updegraff.
If someone were coming to their first Charlotte Symphony concert, what would you tell them?
Knowing a lot about classical music is not a prerequisite for enjoying it! Let your curiosity lead, and the music will take you on a journey. Bonus — live concerts are a wonderful excuse to unplug from your devices for a little while!
What’s something people might be surprised to learn about you?
One winter when I was little, my dad and I camped in an igloo we built ourselves.
