An all-viola ensemble performs works of Piazzola, Elgar, Mendelssohn, Puccini, and more. Performers include Sandra Robbins, viola & Ah-Ling Neu, viola & Leslie Tompkins, viola.
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.
Sandra Robbins graduated from the Manhattan School of Music after studying viola in both the preparatory and college divisions with Lillian Fuchs. At an early age, her love of chamber music was fostered by studies with the Budapest String Quartet and at the Kneisel Hall Chamber Music School in Blue Hill, Maine.
Ms. Robbins has been a member of the Ysaye Quartet, the Paganini Trio, and the Bronx Arts Ensemble, and has performed in chamber music concerts with Nathaniel Rosen, Julius Baker, Elmar Oliveira, Zara Nelsova, Laszlo Varga, Carol Wincenc and Paul Doktor. She has participated in the festivals of Aspen, Amelia Island, Caramoor, Grand Teton, Vermont Mozart, Seattle Chamber Music, Bard Festival, Festival Musicades in Lyon, France, Kneisel Hall and Bowdoin Summer Musical, and Park City, Utah. She is a member of the Westchester Philharmonic and American Composers Orchestra, and is currently principal violist of the Atlantic Classical Orchestra. She has taught on the faculties of Cornell, SUNY Geneseo, and Syracuse University.
Ms. Robbins has recorded for Newport Classics, New World Records, and can be heard on the world premiere recording of Max Bruch’s recently published Viola Quintet in A Minor (1919) on Premier Recordings with the Bronx Arts Ensemble, as well as on the Elan label in a performance of the Martinu Three Madrigals for violin and viola with violinist Elmar Oliveira. She is also featured on a recording of Chausson’s Concerto for Violin, Piano, and String Quartet with Elmar Oliveira and pianist Robert Koenig on the Artek label.
Leslie Tomkins, viola, is the co-founder and Artistic Director of the Moab Music Festival which had its 20th season in September in Moab, Utah. She enjoys the richly diverse musical life New York offers, appearing with artists ranging from Josh Bell to Lady Gaga. A lover of chamber music, she is a frequent guest artist with ensembles such as the Ives Quartet, Music from Copland House, New York Festival of Song. She plays regularly with many fine New York orchestras as well, including the Orchestra of St. Luke's, Westchester Philharmonic, Brooklyn Philharmonic, Stamford Symphony, American Composers Orchestra, Musica Sacra and Oratorio Society of New York.
Leslie lives in Riverdale with husband Michael Barrett and daughter Emma.
An avid chamber musician, violist Ah Ling Neu was a member of the renowned Ridge String Quartet for three seasons, and was invited to the Marlboro Music Festival for four summers and was a member of New York Philomusica for 20 years. She is presently a member of the North Country Chamber Players in New Hampshire and the Brooklyn Library Chamber Players and is a frequent guest at the Barge Music in Brooklyn, NY. She has participated in festivals such as the Bridgehampton Festival, the White Mountains Music Festival, Manchester Music Festival and International Musician’s Seminar in Cornwall, England.
Born in Japan of Chinese parents, Ah Ling started viola in the San Francisco public school system at the age of 13. She continued her studies at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music with Gennady Kleyman and Nobuko Imai at the Hague Royal Conservatory in the Netherlands. Ah Ling performs frequently with several orchestras in the NYC area and is currently on the faculty of Columbia University and is the Artist Associate at Williams College.