Where did you grow up? Long Island, NY

Where do you currently live? Portland, ME

What instrument do you play? Violin

Educational background: BA from SUNY Albany; Suzuki Teacher Training

Personal Information (family, pets, kids, etc.): Married to Richard Noyes, cellist; three children, Benjamin Noyes, cellist, recitalist and Suzuki teacher; Rachel Noyes, violinist, chamber musician and Suzuki teacher; Joel Noyes, cellist with Metropolitan Opera. I’m a Suzuki teacher and Director of the New England Suzuki Institute.

How did you get started in music? My first instrument was the accordion. I wanted to play piano, but my mom said there was an accordion in the attic and I could play that. I was 7 and the accordion was large and bulky. But I learned a lot about harmony and rhythm with that instrument. Luckily, my elementary school had a strings program and I chose the violin, and dropped accordion.

What non-PSO musical activities do you participate in? Teaching is my vocation. I have a Suzuki studio and have had hundreds of violin students in the 30+ yrs I’ve lived in Maine. I run the New England Suzuki Institute and its non-profit board of directors. I play lots of ‘gigs’ with my husband, family members, and others.

What’s your favorite PSO memory to date? Watching my son Joel at age 7 playing the ‘Cuckoo’ in the Toy Symphony at a Youth Concert. Playing the Brahms Requiem with Robert Shaw; it’s really impossible to pick one!

Describe a typical day: OH MY! Teaching, practicing, organizing the next ‘chapter’ of my life; scheduling, scheduling, scheduling! Also cooking. I love to eat, so love to cook.

What is the question you’re asked most often when you tell people you play with the PSO? Can you make a living doing that? Or…..do you actually get PAID for that??

If you couldn’t be a musician, what would be your dream job? Being a musician is my dream job.

Any non-musical hobbies? Not really. Music tends to be all consuming. But I do like cooking, so maybe that’s a hobby.

What is your favorite music? What are you currently listening to? I love classical music. I’m not listening now, but the day I wrote this was Stravinsky’s birthday so I heard the Ancient Airs and Dances on cello. Sooo beautiful.

Who or what has been your greatest influence, musical or otherwise? Parents tend to have the greatest influence on us, whether we admit it or not. My dad loved classical music and had a great collection of symphonic and operatic recordings that we listened to growing up. I’m sure I wouldn’t be doing what I’m doing now if that wasn’t the ‘soil’ in which I was planted.

If you have any web sites or social media sites you’d like to link to from the PSO site, please list them here: Check out newenglandsuzukiinstitute.org. New England Suzuki Institute also has a Facebook page.

Do you teach? If so, how can people get in touch with you? Email is best: clorinda@maine.rr.com

What/where are your favorite eats in Portland? Home!! My husband is an avid organic gardener and we grow an abundance of vegetables and herbs which we preserve and eat all year long. So I guess you can say we are ‘locavores’ and eating anywhere but here can be a step down.

Is there anything else you’d like to share? We are active with my church’s Food Pantry, which has grown exponentially over the past two years.