Lydia Parkington

Lydia received her bachelor’s degree in music performance at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst, M.A., under the tutelage of Juilliard Quartet's Astrid Schween. She received her masters of music in cello at Syracuse University's Setnor School of Music. She currently resides in Syracuse, New York and Wellfleet, Massachusetts. 

Lydia is an Adjunct Professor of Cello at Le Moyne College. While in Syracuse, she maintains a balanced schedule of teaching and performing in both orchestral and chamber settings. She is currently a core cellist in Symphoria, Central New York’s symphony orchestra, and a frequent guest with the Albany Symphony, Catskill Symphony Orchestra, and Syracuse's Society for New Music.

She has performed as a soloist with the Cape Cod Symphony and has toured extensively throughout the United States at celebrated venues such as the Chicago Cultural Center and Bonnaroo Music Festival as a longtime member of folk-pop band the Parkington Sisters. In those travels, Lydia collaborated with esteemed non-classical musicians such as Bruce Springsteen and the Dropkick Murphys. 

An avid performer of new music, she had the opportunity to work alongside and perform with the Kronos Quartet in collaboration with SU Arts Engage. She has premiered works by composers Andy Waggoner, Patrick Doyle, and Brent Michael Davids. In her spare time Lydia enjoys reading and hiking with her foster dogs.

Return to Music.