Parkersburg’s Cello Company continues winning streak
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PARKERSBURG -- The winning streak continues at The Cello Company of Parkersburg.
For the past several years, students of Cynthia Puls, founder and director of The Cello Company, have been named to the West Virginia All-State Orchestra as cellists.
This year, Wade Powers of Mineral Wells, a junior at Parkersburg South High School, has been named a first chair, or principal, cellist in the state orchestra. Powers was selected at recent auditions. Also, Rachael Puls of Parkersburg has been selected as a violinist in the all-state orchestra.
These two accomplishments follow other Cello Company students being selected for the West Virginia All-State Orchestra, including 2014 first chair Ryan Phipps, 2015 first chair Ethan Powers and 2016 second chair Ethan Powers.
Zoe Heflin, of Parkersburg, as a student of The Cello Company of Parkersburg, was selected for the all-state orchestra from 2010 to 2013.
The all-state orchestra will perform on March 4 in Charleston during the West Virginia Music Educators Association's conference.
The Cello Company students meet once a week as a group for cello instruction at First Lutheran Church in Parkersburg and also receive private cello lessons.
Students also work on their music instruction at home with their parents, said Cynthia Puls, a master cellist.
The parents are the secret behind the children's success in playing the cello, Puls said. She schedules as many concerts and public performances as possible for her young cellists.
They perform in schools and at retirement centers, to give back to the community, she said. The local cellists also perform at out-of-state venues.
Her cello students begin instruction as young as 2 years old. Puls has been teaching cello in Parkersburg since 1994, and before that she was a cello instructor in Louisiana and Indiana. She recently started another cello program in Athens.
Puls said she is proud of her students as they play some challenging music on their cellos. She teaches them all the notes so they will receive a "total orchestral experience."
David Puls, Cynthia's husband, teaches the violin class in Parkersburg.
Cynthia Puls will be collaborating with cellist Erin Ellis, a faculty member at the West Virginia University School of Music, on music projects, including a cello festival, involving The Cello Company.