Cellist Lydia Munchinsky is originally from Straffordville Ontario. She began her piano studies at the age of 4 and cello when she was 10.
She completed her ARCT in performance for both piano and cello before coming to Toronto in 2000 to study cello with Simon Fryer and piano with Peter Longworth at The Glenn Gould School of Music.
At the ages of 10 and 12, Lydia participated in the International Suzuki Conventions in Australia and Korea, where she performed for Dr. Suzuki and worked with Haruko Kataoka. She spent 3 months as a language exchange student in France when she was 16 and, the year after graduating high school, backpacked across Europe with her cello for 5 months, spending 3 of those months in Switzerland at the International Christian Study and Philosophy Centre l’Abri.
Since completing the Performance Diploma Program at the GGS, Lydia’s eclectic performance experience has included playing for Stage West and Theatre Aquarius, Dr. Draw, the Array Ensemble and Sarah Slean, and she is a member of the Venuti String Quartet and the Canadian Folk Music Award nominated group Ozere.
Lydia also toured extensively with Quartetto Gelato for 1 – 1/2 years, usually with her baby daughter in tow, and is featured on their most recent recording. She can often be found in a recording studio and has recorded soundtracks for films and tv scores including “Percy”, “The Breadwinner”, “The White Lie”, and “Astronaut”. Besides recording albums with Ozere and Quartetto Gelato, Lydia has also recorded with Alessia Cara, Sarah Slean, Mike Janzen, The Great Lake Swimmers, Royal Wood, and Laila Biali, to name a few. She has premiered solo cello and chamber music works by many Canadian and Austrian composers and gives recitals regularly, some of which have been recorded by CBC and CIUT radio.
Lydia taught for two years with Sistema Toronto in Parkdale and currently teaches at the Toronto School for Strings and Piano. She now has two children, Arya and William.