Vivian Van de Sype Cucu is a senior at University School of Milwaukee. She studies viola with Davis King and is a scholarship fellow at the Music Institute of Chicago’s Academy. As a member of the Academy’s Elysian Quartet, Van de Sype Cucu won the gold medal, BIPOC Prize and Audience Prize in the 2024 Saint Paul String Quartet Competition.
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Final Forte 2025: Vivian Van de Sype Cucu
[viola music] – My name is Vivian Van de Sype Cucu, and I am a senior at the University School of Milwaukee. My family and I, we’re really close. We really like sailing together. I’ve been sailing for as long as I can remember. With sailing, you have to adapt to the wind and who you’re with. And with music, I kind of have to adapt with the people I’m playing with or the hall that I’m playing in. I think the viola is a pretty interesting instrument. It has such a beautiful tone, almost like a singing voice. [viola music] I started playing when I was four years old. I really enjoy playing in ensembles. The viola adds a really unique texture, and I love to provide that. I’m a part of the Music Institute of Chicago Academy, and my quartet is definitely my favorite part. My nonprofit organization, Musicians for Hope, is a collaboration between me and a few peers from the Academy. We try to raise money to bring instruments and better funded music programs to public schools. – Davis King: Ha! That’s better. – Vivian: I’ve been studying with Davis King for three years now. He’s helped me progress exponentially. He’s really enjoyable to work with, and I love him. – No change of bow speed. – Really? He really makes me have to perfect it before we can move on. That’s really helpful. – Now you’re getting sharp. – I will be playing the first movement of the Walton Viola Concerto. The beginning’s really soft, but it gets really intense as it goes on. I know Walton was in love with someone, but it was sort of an unrequited love. I try to think of that when I play, but I can’t relate. The ending is so wonderful. It just slowly fades away and it sort of dies at the end. Playing with the Madison Symphony Orchestra is definitely a big deal. I’m just gonna really try to savor the moment and appreciate the music. [ending note] [applause]
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