FEATURED SINFONIA MUSICIAN: Getting to Know the Sinfonia Family
Elizabeth Mendoza, Principal Cello
Elizabeth Mendoza remembers starting Suzuki violin lessons as a young girl. But her choice of string instruments changed when her parents hosted their first house concert, which included celebrated cellist Tanya Hunt Prochazka.
"There was a cellist in the group, and because of her I just fell in love with the cello at that moment,” she recalls. "I was 8 years old and just loved meeting Tanya, who was so kind to me and showed me how to hold the instrument. My immediate love of the cello was a combination of the sound of the instrument, but also this incredibly lovely individual who actually went on to become a famous cellist."
With that life-changing musical experience, Mendoza says the violin went back to the rental shop and she bought a cello instead.
Raised in Cincinnati, she received her bachelor of music degree from Peabody Conservatory and returned to her hometown for her master of music degree from the Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music.
A member of the PSO for more than 10 years, Mendoza also serves as principal cellist with the Bay Atlantic Symphony in southern New Jersey and is a member of Satori, a Lehigh Valley-based chamber ensemble.
She says she loves her colleagues in the PSO family.
"I have to say I love my colleagues and the orchestra," Mendoza says. "I've met some really great friends through the orchestra and have branched out and played chamber music with them in other settings. There’s really nothing better than playing with a group of friends. That, for me, is the high point."
Outside of her musical life, she enjoys dancing and met her husband while salsa dancing. While attending Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music for her graduate degree, she was a performing member of The Flying Cloud Academy of Vintage Dance, the historic social dance school and troupe in Cincinnati, from 1990 to 1996. The troupe performs historic social dances from the early 1800s through the early 1900s.
Mendoza also serves as a volunteer librarian in the School District of Philadelphia.
"Unfortunately, the school district has such a tight budget and in many of their schools they can’t afford a librarian. So, it’s fallen on volunteers," she says.
Working with the West Philadelphia Alliance for Children, a nonprofit organization that mobilizes volunteers to reopen and staff libraries in Philadelphia’s public schools, she been at the Morton McMichael School for about eight years, spending six hours a week there helping students discover the joys of reading.
"I love reading to the kids,” Mendoza says. “And I love helping them find the best book for that."
Elizabeth Mendoza remembers starting Suzuki violin lessons as a young girl. But her choice of string instruments changed when her parents hosted their first house concert, which included celebrated cellist Tanya Hunt Prochazka.
"There was a cellist in the group, and because of her I just fell in love with the cello at that moment,” she recalls. "I was 8 years old and just loved meeting Tanya, who was so kind to me and showed me how to hold the instrument. My immediate love of the cello was a combination of the sound of the instrument, but also this incredibly lovely individual who actually went on to become a famous cellist."
With that life-changing musical experience, Mendoza says the violin went back to the rental shop and she bought a cello instead.
Raised in Cincinnati, she received her bachelor of music degree from Peabody Conservatory and returned to her hometown for her master of music degree from the Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music.
A member of the PSO for more than 10 years, Mendoza also serves as principal cellist with the Bay Atlantic Symphony in southern New Jersey and is a member of Satori, a Lehigh Valley-based chamber ensemble.
She says she loves her colleagues in the PSO family.
"I have to say I love my colleagues and the orchestra," Mendoza says. "I've met some really great friends through the orchestra and have branched out and played chamber music with them in other settings. There’s really nothing better than playing with a group of friends. That, for me, is the high point."
Outside of her musical life, she enjoys dancing and met her husband while salsa dancing. While attending Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music for her graduate degree, she was a performing member of The Flying Cloud Academy of Vintage Dance, the historic social dance school and troupe in Cincinnati, from 1990 to 1996. The troupe performs historic social dances from the early 1800s through the early 1900s.
Mendoza also serves as a volunteer librarian in the School District of Philadelphia.
"Unfortunately, the school district has such a tight budget and in many of their schools they can’t afford a librarian. So, it’s fallen on volunteers," she says.
Working with the West Philadelphia Alliance for Children, a nonprofit organization that mobilizes volunteers to reopen and staff libraries in Philadelphia’s public schools, she been at the Morton McMichael School for about eight years, spending six hours a week there helping students discover the joys of reading.
"I love reading to the kids,” Mendoza says. “And I love helping them find the best book for that."
