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  • Hi, my name ismi Pelletier.

  • I play the viola in the New York Philharmonic.

  • I grew up in Montreal, Quebec.

  • I started with the violin, actually,

  • when I was five years old.

  • My best friend was playing the violin,

  • and I just wanted to be like her,

  • and it's much later that I switched to viola,

  • because the E string, I was a little

  • bit uncomfortable, and it felt too small

  • all the time, and at that time I just

  • happened to have a violist neighbor

  • who had an extra viola in her closet,

  • and she said why don't you try the viola,

  • and I tried it, and I fell in love

  • right away. Physically I felt better,

  • and I love the sound, because it's

  • close to the human voice range.

  • When I was 17 years old,

  • after high school, I just didn't feel

  • like practicing anymore

  • the violin; I was a little bit tired of it.

  • I spent some time working in restaurants.

  • I was very interested in cooking.

  • I worked in a Japanese restaurant in Montreal

  • the best onewith Chef Obayashi,

  • who passed away, but he was one of the greatest sushi chefs,

  • and he was training me to become

  • a professional, and at one point he asked me,

  • you have to choose between viola or sushi,

  • because if you choose sushi I need you

  • every day; so I chose the viola.

  • What I enjoy the most in the Philharmonic

  • is the music-making, of course.

  • That's why I'm here.

  • Making this beautiful, luscious, rich,

  • powerful sound that we have at the Philharmonic is

  • really something special.

  • Well it's like when we played Mahler [Symphony No.] 5

  • with our new Music Director, Jaap van Zweden.

  • Time flies when you love being there and enjoying

  • the piece, and I didn't want the concert

  • to be over, actually, because I enjoyed every note.

Hi, my name ismi Pelletier.

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