A Musical Connection:
Photo Courtesy: Nikray Kowsar
Why Soria Found Her Voice in a V. Richelieu Viola
For many string players, the journey with their instrument begins as a childhood compromise. You practice because your parents encourage it, you progress because your teachers demand it, but along the way something shifts and the obligation transforms into a passion. For one of our very own team members and local music educators, Soria Nguyen, that journey came full circle this fall as she prepares to leave us to pursue teaching full-time in the Suzuki method.
Growing Up in the Suzuki Tradition
"I started playing the violin when I was four because my parents wanted my sisters and me to learn an instrument. They wanted us to either go into sports or one of the arts, so when they met a Suzuki violin teacher by chance that settled it.”
By the age of eight, Soria was attending The Crowden School in Berkeley, California, a unique institution combining rigorous academics with two hours of intensive music education every morning. Despite almost quitting at age six, she grew up completely immersed in music. “I didn't like practicing, but my mom was very enthusiastic about my musical journey,” she laughs.
At Crowden, the viola was introduced as part of the curriculum to violin students. Each student would get assigned a viola to use, but the quality varied.
"The viola I was assigned was a 14-inch viola with a very small and nasal sound. Because all of the other ones were too large for me, I wasn’t the biggest fan, to be honest, because it didn’t sound as nice as my violin ... When I got to college, though, I realized that learning the viola would allow me greater versatility in gigs and other performances, so I began taking lessons.”
The Crucial Role of Instrument Setup for Young Learner
Now an active private teacher and chamber music coach in the Burlington Vermont area, her pedagogical training has fundamentally reshaped how she looks at instruments, especially the fractional sizes meant for young children.
"It’s so encouraging if an instrument sounds good on its own. Most of the sounds a beginner makes when they start out aren’t the most, you know, musical, so it sets you back even farther if the instrument is low quality.”
Working inside the violin shop allowed her to see just how critical small adjustments are to a child's success.
"I didn't anticipate how much of my job would involve checking instrument setups to help tiny players. The curve of the bridge, the string height, a quality instrument… these small things make it so much easier for little hands to find success."
Discovering the V. Richelieu Distinction
When she moved to Vermont in the summer of 2024, Soria wasn't planning to buy a new instrument. This changed, though, when she tried the 15-inch V. Richelieu Viola made from an unconventional tonewood: Myrtle.
"I love the sustainability aspect, and the way it looks is so different from other violas—it’s a very signature look," she explains. "Most workshop violas use Maple, which can sound quite bright. But the Myrtle wood has an incredibly dark, rich color right off the bat, and it opens up beautifully the more you play it."
Standing a shade under five feet tall, Soria has struggled to find an instrument that matches her smaller stature while still able to project enough to play at a high level. Most professional violas are 15.5 inches or larger to project to audiences, which forces smaller players to compromise their physical comfort to be fully expressive.
What Makes V. Richelieu Special
“The neck on my Richelieu is beautifully thin, making shifting super easy. It feels remarkably close to the size of my violin, but it still sounds like a true, deep viola. The cutout in the scroll helps reduce those crucial grams of weight at the end of the pegbox, and it looks amazing, too.”
Photo Courtesy: Nikray Kowsar
Bridging the Gap: Advice for Parents and Teachers
When asked what advice she would give to other music educators and parents contemplating a V. Richelieu, her answer is simple: trust the quality and invest in the journey.
"There is a stigma associated with small instruments, or instruments that are made for kids, that you don't need to put much care into it," she says. "But at Vermont Violins, there is so much care given to getting these fractional and small-scale instruments to sound fantastic for advancing players. If you want a student to have a setup where every tiny detail has been thought through, you want a Richelieu."
She also emphasizes that a child's musical success is a three-way partnership between the student, the teacher, and an active parent. "My best students are the ones whose parents are deeply involved—taking notes during lessons, understanding the instrument, and acting as the 'home teacher' between sessions. That is what keeps a child motivated, and I can now speak from the perspective of both the teacher and student. It really works.”
Looking Forward
While balancing a 40-hour work week with teaching and performing in a string quartet is a challenge, having a quality instrument is essential. As she prepares to part ways, Soria is still grateful for the opportunity to have been introduced to the Vermont community through the shop and to have found such a beautiful instrument.
"My goal is to continue building a dedicated full-time teaching studio right here in Vermont to support the local music community," she says. “It’s great to know that I have this kind of shop to send students to, where I can trust that they will receive the tools to succeed."
V. Richelieu viola are 100% made in Vermont. Hand-split spruce tonewood is imported from Italy and Switzerland; maple comes to us from Bosnia. Together, these woods form a viola of unique distinction offering fine instrument quality at very affordable prices.Our child-sized violas are true violas: modeled after a 16” model, scaled down for children. Finally, a fractional viola that actually sounds like a viola! Most small violas are modeled after violins, and the resulting instruments never perform…our V. Richelieu violas sing with the resonance a viola is meant to have: from the soaring highs of the A string to the haunting lows of the C.Each instrument is hand-graduated by our senior luthiers. The oil-based varnish is hand painted by an accomplished oil portrait artist. Each instrument is unique, but each offers a tonal quality perfect for the advancing student, conservatory student or professional player.
V. Richelieu viola are 100% made in Vermont. Hand-split spruce tonewood is imported from Italy and Switzerland; maple comes to us from Bosnia. Together, these woods form a viola of unique distinction offering fine instrument quality at very affordable prices.Our child-sized violas are true violas: modeled after a 16” model, scaled down for children. Finally, a fractional viola that actually sounds like a viola! Most small violas are modeled after violins, and the resulting instruments never perform…our V. Richelieu violas sing with the resonance a viola is meant to have: from the soaring highs of the A string to the haunting lows of the C.Each instrument is hand-graduated by our senior luthiers. The oil-based varnish is hand painted by an accomplished oil portrait artist. Each instrument is unique, but each offers a tonal quality perfect for the advancing student, conservatory student or professional player.
V. Richelieu violins are 100% made in Vermont. Hand-split spruce tonewood is imported from Italy and Switzerland; maple comes to us from Bosnia. Together, these woods form a violin of unique distinction offering fine instrument quality at very affordable prices.Each instrument is hand-graduated by our senior luthiers. The oil-based varnish is hand painted by an accomplished oil portrait artist. Each instrument is unique, but each offers a tonal quality perfect for the advancing student, conservatory student or professional player.