Cyntia Smith

Cyntia Smith is an internationally known fretted dulcimer artist, vocalist, composer, and arranger of Renaissance and British Isles traditional music. Cyntia recorded and co-produced five critically acclaimed albums with Ruth Barrett between 1980 and 1993. She is one of the pioneers in the development of chord-melody classical fingerpicking style and has been teaching the dulcimer and performing since 1979. With luthier Dale Foye, she helped develop and build the Aeolus classical dulcimer, a hybrid of the Spanish classical guitar and the mountain dulcimer and added her unique sound hole carvings and custom abalone inlays to many Aeolus dulcimers and to Mr. Foye’s guitars.

Cyntia co-founded the Southern California Dulcimer Heritage and the Harvest Festival of Dulcimers and served as the artistic director from 1995 to 2006. Cyntia has been an instructor and performer at numerous festivals across the country and continues to compose and teach the dulcimer. Her debut solo album, Soul Tending, features her original songs and instrumentals interwoven with guitar, percussion, flute, and cello. Cyntia can be contacted, and her physical and digital CD albums are available on her website.