Cheyenne Symphony Orchestra: Meet Violist and Pianist Sabrina Lloyd
Compared to the violin, the viola has a deeper and warmer sound, and is tuned to a lower-range. It's even often referred to as the alto clef instrument.
Lloyd loves the lower range of the viola because it's less likely to squeal like the violin.
She came from a musical family, with her mother being a violinist and her dad being a pianist and vocalist. Her mother taught her how to play the violin from the age of 4 and encouraged her and her sister to play the viola so they could play it in case there was no other violist in a performance.
She also took piano lessons with her dad beginning at age 7. She said her dad had a more hands-off approach than her mom did, noting that it was a lot more casual. She then made the full switch to viola at age 16 with a new mentor, but said it was a gradual transition, and she was still playing solo violin repertoire before the switch, just because it was more abundant and fun.
Although she'd taken violin lessons for several years, her first time playing in an orchestra was when she was in junior high. She also played in chamber music groups with her family, both at church and as a professional ensemble.
Lloyd was born in New York, but grew up in northern Utah, where she earned her bachelor's degree at Utah State University in viola performance, as well as a French minor. Because her dad liked to travel, they also lived in California for a little bit, as well as Spain, before heading back to Utah.
What brought Lloyd to the Front Range, though, was Colorado State University, where she got her master's in viola performance.
She enjoyed participating in music festivals over the summers, like the Aspen Music Festival, in Aspen, Colorado, as well as the Castleman String Quartet program in Boulder, and programs outside of the United States in Quebec, Canada, and Fontainebleau, France.
Stephen Wyrczynski was her mentor at Aspen, and his teachings stayed with her for years. Her other teachers — like Margaret Miller from CSU, Erica Eckert from University of Colorado in Boulder, and Russell Fallstad and Brad Ottesen from USU — were also vital in helping her become the musician she is today.
The CSO is what brought her and her husband to Cheyennet. They lived in Boulder for a while before he started job hunting. At the time, Lloyd was already in the CSO, so he interviewed for a job in Cheyenne, and the rest is history.
In addition to her position in the local orchestra, she also plays in the Fort Collins Symphony, the Greeley Philharmonic and the Wyoming Symphony in Casper. She's been with all of these orchestras for around a decade, as well.
A fun fact about Lloyd is that she has perfect pitch, which she says is sometimes a blessing and a curse; when an orchestra is tuning, it can be a blessing, but other things, like singing 'Happy Birthday' in a restaurant, can make it a curse.
When Lloyd isn't playing an instrument or singing, she's taking care of her three children or participating in at least two book clubs at any given time, and a fair chunk of her time also goes to being the personnel manager for one of her orchestras.
'It's a hard career path,' said Lloyd. 'The four orchestras I'm in and the personnel manager position are equivalent to one part-time job. Full-time orchestras like the Colorado Symphony pay quite nicely, but there aren't a lot of openings. ... It's very competitive ... but it's also a team sport, you have to work together (with those around you) to create a beautiful musical experience.'
Lloyd said that if someone wants to go to school for music, they should be thinking about going to a school where they're on scholarship or won't be in a crazy amount of debt. Despite the hardships, though, Lloyd said she wouldn't have it any other way.
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