Lydia Newton

Lydia Newton is pursuing her master’s degree at the Eastman School of Music, where she studies with Renée Jolles. Lydia recently graduated from the Frost School of Music, University of Miami, where she studied with Charles Castleman as a Class of 2022 Stamps String Quartet Scholar. From Lucedale, MS, Lydia has also studied with Miclen LaiPang (Cologne, Germany), Sonja Foster (Atlanta, GA), and Enen Yu (Mobile, AL). Lydia has soloed with the Atlanta Community Symphony Orchestra (2017), the
Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra (2017, 2015), the Georgia Philharmonic Orchestra (2015), and the Southeastern Louisiana University Chamber Orchestra (2010, 2009). She has relished presenting private solo recitals across the southeast, including Hilton Head and Charleston, SC, as a guest of Young Artist Performances and Music Matters! concert series. Additionally, she has been a winner of the Enkor International Competition, the Lois Pickard scholarship competition, the MTNA junior and senior strings
competitions, and a finalist in the Jack Heller Young Artist Competition and the Hilton Head Youth Concerto Competition. Over the past summers, Lydia has enjoyed attending the Castleman Quartet Program, Bowdoin International Music Festival, and the National Youth Orchestra 2. She has been awarded music education grants from the Rachel Barton Pine Foundation (2018) and The Performing Arts Consortium (2016).

As a member of the Stamps String Quartet, Lydia gave chamber concerts each semester at the Frost School of Music; toured the southeast through the sponsorship of Young Artist Performances; performed concerts for various chamber music series, including the Gulf Coast Symphony’s Sunday Night Chamber Music concert series, the Mary Martha Yamaha chamber music series, the Frontwave New Music concert series, and the Key Biscayne Community Center concert series. Lydia has performed in masterclasses with musicians such as Daniel Han (Philadelphia Orchestra), Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg, Seth Parker Woods, the Merel String Quartet, Danish String Quartet, Thalea String Quartet, and Sybarite5. While at Frost, Lydia also performed in the Henry Mancini Institute Orchestra, a graduate ensemble which specializes in film and cross-genre repertoire. An enthusiastic teacher, Lydia has enjoyed volunteering for Through the Staf , a non-profit organization that provides lessons to students who lost access to private instruction during the pandemic. Beyond her musical pursuits, Lydia enjoys running, reading nonfiction, and drawing portraits