Deborah Wong, violin and Kyle Armbrust, viola showcase violin & viola duos of Mozart, Saariaho, Spohr, Martinu, and Handel.
Learn more about the Westchester Philharmonic's season at Westchesterphil.org
This concert is made possible, in part, with the generous support of the Brian Wallach Agency, White Plains, New York. Personal and Commercial Insurance since 1949.
Deborah Wong is a long-time member of the Westchester Philharmonic violin section, frequently occupying the assistant concertmaster or Principal 2nd chairs. She graduated from the Juilliard School with both a Bachelors and Masters degree under the tutelage of the renowned Dorothy Delay. Her violinistic abilities span a wide range of styles and activities, from chamber music to symphonies to cutting edge contemporary. As a soloist, she has performed with the Hudson Valley Philharmonic, the Brattleboro Bach Festival Orchestra, the Stony Brook Symphony, the North Country Chamber Players, the Civic Orchestra of New Haven, the American Chamber Orchestra and the Greater Bridgeport Symphony. As a chamber musician she is a member of the Atlantic String Quartet and the Hawthorne Piano Trio. With Adam Grabois, her duo cello partner, she has recorded Martinu, Kodaly, and Ravel Duos on Mr. Grabois’ own label, Reflex Editions. A champion of new music, Ms. Wong performs in New York with such groups as the Washington Square Contermporary Music Ensemble, Speculum, ISCM, and the New York New Music Ensemble. In 2010 she was invited as a master teacher- performer to Panama, to work with the students at the Orquestra Juvenil de Nata. Ms. Wong has recorded for Deustche Gramophone, Elysium and CRI and New World Records. She resides in New York with her husband, Chris Finckel, cellist and co-director of the Sarajevo Chamber Music Festival, and their two children, Emeline and Paul.
Violist Kyle Armbrust has performed as soloist with The Academy of St. Martin in the Fields, the St. Petersburg Philharmonic, Lake George Chamber Orchestra, Maple City Chamber Orchestra, and Musica Bella Orchestra of New York. He has been described as "assured, brilliant, and stylish" in The New York Times, and "musically mature" and "technically sound" in the New York Post. Kyle was awarded first prize in the Chicago Viola Society, Midwest Young Artists, and Rembrandt Chamber Players Competitions, and the Faber Prize at the 2003 Lionel Tertis International Viola Competition. As winner of the 2002 Juilliard Concerto Competition, Kyle performed the Bartok Viola Concerto with the Juilliard Orchestra under the direction of Kurt Masur in Avery Fisher Hall.
An active chamber musician, Kyle is a founding member of the Phaedrus String Quartet. Formed in 1999, the quartet has performed extensively in Europe, including recitals in the Aix en Provence, Schleswig Holstein, and Verbier Festivals, and collaborations with Nicholas Angelich, Yuri Bashmet, Joshua Bell, Dimut Poppen, and Yevgeny Sudbin. Kyle has participated in the Marlboro and Ravinia Festivals, has gone on tour with Musicians from Ravinia's Steans Institute, and was invited to perform with Itzhak Perlman and Yo-Yo Ma at the Neue Gallery in New York City in 2005. In addition to his solo and chamber music activities, Kyle was recently named Assistant Principal Violist of the New Jersey Symphony. He performs with the Mahler Chamber Orchestra, the Knights Chamber Orchestra and is a substitute member of the New York Philharmonic and Philadelphia Orchestra. Kyle received his BM ('03), MM ('06), and Artist Diploma ('08) from The Juilliard School and studied with Heidi Castleman, Misha Amory, and Michael Tree.