Hi, I'm Gwen

The Long Version

Hi, my name is Gwendolyn, but everyone calls me Gwen

Hello! I'm Gwen and I’m a professional musician and yoga teacher. I’m Associate Principal Viola in the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, I teach private violin and viola lessons, and I teach Hatha and Vinyasa Flow yoga to teenagers and adults of all ability levels.

I was born in Chicago, Illinois, USA, and started to play the violin when I was five years old. I fell in love with playing in a big group at an early age, and I decided that I wanted to play in a symphony orchestra when I was eight years old. On my teacher’s hunch I tried playing viola when I was sixteen and I never looked back!

I earned my Bachelor of Music degree in Viola Performance from the Peabody Conservatory of Music, in Baltimore, Maryland, where I studied with Victoria Chiang. I then spent a year of a Master’s degree at the New England Conservatory of Music, in Boston, Massachusetts, studying with Martha Katz. After that I moved to Salzburg, Austria, where I did a full Master of Music degree in Viola Performance at the Mozarteum University, studying with Thomas Riebl.

Living in England wasn’t on my radar as a life plan, but after Salzburg my plans changed and I ended up moving to London for a tutti position in the Philharmonia Orchestra. I played there for nearly eight years, making music all over the world with some world-class colleagues and friends.

It was during this time that I fell in love with yoga. I had dabbled in it as a teenager, but in 2011 I tried Bikram yoga and found it a great antidote to the demands of professional orchestral life. I loved the heat, loved the stretching, and loved how calm I felt afterwards. I started to explore Vinyasa Flow yoga as well, learning from some excellent teachers in London and online. In 2014 I founded the Philharmonia Yoga Group which I ran for two years, leading colleagues in pop-up yoga sessions in hotel conference rooms and the back stages of concert halls in the UK and abroad.

However as much fun as my busy London touring life was, I knew that I wanted to teach as well as play. In 2016 I moved to Liverpool to be one of two Associate Principal Violas (no 2) in the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra. I share the position and play half of the orchestra’s schedule, which allows me time to teach!

I currently teach a private studio of thirteen students of all ages. I also coach with the Liverpool Philharmonic Youth Orchestra and Youth Academy Orchestra, occasionally coach at the Royal Northern College of Music, and do yearly courses as a viola tutor with the National Children’s Orchestra of Great Britain.

In 2022 I did my 200 hour Yoga Teacher Training in Hatha and Vinyasa Flow yoga through the thorough and excellent training from Yoga Course. I’ve also done a 20 hour qualification in Trauma Sensitive Yoga through Trauma Therapy Manchester and I am currently completing a 40 hour Teen Yoga Teacher Training through LKY Yoga School. I also take regular one-on-one mentoring from Yoga Megs.

I now split my time between playing in the RLPO, teaching private violin and viola lessons to teens and adults of all ability levels, and teaching yoga to teens and adults in a variety of different contexts.