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, the Toomai String Quintet is dedicated to creating engaging interactive concerts for audiences of all ages.
Hailed for their “light-handed authority” on their “magnificently executed” recording of composer Jessica Pavone’s Songs of Synastry and Solitude (Tzadik Records), the Toomai String Quintet is equally at home in concert halls and unconventional performance spaces. The quintet has appeared in venues such as the Kaufmann Concert Hall at the 92nd St. Y, Lincoln Center, and The Kitchen in downtown NYC. They also perform frequently in public schools, hospitals, and alternative care facilities throughout the New York City area as part of the current roster for Carnegie Hall’s “Musical Connections” program. In addition, the quintet has been featured in the Miami Civic Music Association and Con Vivo chamber music series, among others.
Formed in 2007 at The Juilliard School, the quintet is named after Rudyard Kipling’s short story “Toomai of the Elephants” in which a young boy journeys into the jungle 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 quintet is comprised of violinists Emilie-Anne Gendron and Pala García, violist Erin Wight, cellist John Popham, and bassist Andrew Roitstein.