CSU Stanislaus Student Leah Carl To Perform At Carnegie Hall


California State University, Stanislaus student and violinist Leah Carl has been invited to play at Carnegie Hall on January 20.

Carl is one of 20 student violinists from throughout the United States who will join the Mid-America Productions orchestra under the direction of composer and conductor Lukas Foss in a performance of Tchaikovsky’s Fifth Symphony. She will play in the first and second violin section. Rehearsals start January 17.

A triple-major in music education, violin performance and biology, Carl recently took on the challenge of pioneering a music program at Modesto’s Central Catholic High School. She hopes to use her multiple major training to become a science and music teacher.

The 22-year-old Modesto native is in her fifth year at CSU Stanislaus where she has a full-time class schedule. She was picked for the Carnegie orchestra after submitting recordings of her violin playing, prompted by a flyer she saw in the University music department.

“I’m excited about the opportunity, and it will be my first trip to New York,” Carl said. “I’m really interested in teaching, but there are opportunities out there to study the violin at some of the best music schools in the country. I never expected to go this far with it and still have a lot to learn, so we’ll just have to see what happens.”

Music has been a big part of Carl’s life since elementary school when she started playing the violin as a fourth-grader. As a student at Modesto’s Beyer High School, she expanded her musical skills to the viola, cello, piano, French horn, hand bells and percussion instruments. She also taught herself how to play the guitar.

When a music scholarship was offered to her at CSU Stanislaus, Carl had already established a familiarity with the program through participation in University music events.

“Leah has blossomed into a terrific violinist,” said Stuart Sims, CSU Stanislaus Director of Instrumental Studies. “She has a wonderful superstar combination of curiosity, talent, ability and dedication that has made her a role model.”

She has performed in the string section of the University’s Stanislaus Symphony and in 2001 joined the Modesto Symphony as a violinist. Carl said she has not ruled out any of her career interests at this point, noting that the medical field is also a possibility.

“I’ve discovered that I really love working with kids and all kinds of people,” she said. “That’s why I like the idea of teaching biology and music.”

Contact: Don Hansen (209) 667-3997