The Toomai String Quintet is an ensemble devoted to performing music from the classical and contemporary repertoire while exploring and arranging music from around the world. Winner of the 92nd St. Y’s 2007 Music Unlocked! Competition for emerging ensembles interested in educational outreach, the Toomai String Quintet is dedicated to creating engaging interactive concerts for listeners of all ages.
The Toomai String Quintet has performed in Kaufmann Concert Hall at the 92nd St. Y, Juilliard’s chamber music series at Lincoln Center, The Kitchen in downtown NYC, and public schools, hospitals, and alternative care facilities throughout the New York City area. In Spring 2009, the quintet was featured in the Miami Civic Music Association, the Con Vivo chamber music series in Jersey City, NJ, among others, and was awarded a 2009 grant from the Sparkplug Foundation. Most recently, Toomai was selected to be on the roster of Carnegie Hall’s “Musical Connections” series for the 2009/2010 season.
Formed in 2007 at The Juilliard School, the quintet is named after Rudyard Kipling’s short story “Toomai of the Elephants” about a young boy who follows his elephant to witness the dance of the wild elephants. The Toomai String Quintet aspires to cultivate a similar sense of curiosity and discovery by searching for diverse music and sharing it with their audience.
The Toomai String Quintet is comprised of rotating violinists Emilie-Anne Gendron, Ko Sugiyama, Amie Weiss, and Hyo-jung Yoo, violist Erin Wight, cellist John Popham, and Andrew Roitstein, double bass