About Leah Gastler Mabbun
Leah Gastler is an enthusiastic musician with a love of collaboration and communication. Having begun her musical studies on the violin, she took on the viola as her voice of preference during high school. While maintaining both instruments, she studied viola at Bard College Conservatory with Steven Tenenbom of the Orion String Quartet and Michael Tree of the Guarneri Quartet. She continued her studies at the Juilliard School in the studio of renowned pedagogue Heidi Castleman and Hsin Yun Huang. Recently, she moved to Texas to further her experience in chamber music as an Artist Diploma student at the Shepherd School of Music at Rice University, where she studied with James Dunham and was able to perform and collaborate with many of our nations most accomplished musicians. Leah has focused her musical pursuits toward chamber music as a member of numerous quartets and chamber ensembles, and as the co-founder and artistic director of The Kalmia Garden Chamber Music and Arts Foundation, which hosts a summer music festival in her family's historic farmhouse in Durham Connecticut. Leah greatly enjoys teaching students of all ages and abilities, as it allows her to explore the process of learning that is unique to each student, and to further the joys of music and creative expression in the lives of others.
