Thanksgiving at Garth Newel: An Interview with Violinist Teresa Ling

Violinist Teresa Ling returned to Allegheny Mountain Radio for the first time since 2018, and the conversation was as rich as the music she brings to the world. Teresa began playing piano at just two years old, showing early signs of a musical life long before she had the language to describe it. Yet her path wasn’t straight. She studied molecular biophysics and biochemistry at Yale, completed her MCATs, and fully expected to pursue a career in medicine. But the pull of music proved stronger. Through a series of auditions, mentors, and bold decisions, she chose the uncertainty of performance over the certainty of a medical career and never looked back.

In our interview, she reflected on how that early discipline shaped her, how chamber music honed her ability to listen deeply, and how a young musician—just nineteen—found herself performing major repertoire far earlier than she ever imagined. That journey eventually brought her to Garth Newel in 1996 as a guest artist, and two years later, in 1998, she accepted the full-time violin position that anchored her life in this community. Nearly three decades later, she remains the Quartet’s longest-standing member and one of its guiding artistic voices.

We also looked ahead to this year’s Thanksgiving programs at Garth Newel Music Center.

On Thursday, November 27 at 4:00 p.m., the Garth Newel Piano Quartet will perform Beethoven’s Piano Quartet in E-flat major, Op. 16 and Fauré’s Piano Quartet No. 2 in G minor, Op. 45.

On Friday, November 28 at 5:00 p.m., they return with Home Sweet Home, a program featuring Rebecca Clarke’s Sonata for Viola and Piano and Dvořák’s Piano Trio No. 3, Op. 65. An optional four-course dinner follows Friday’s concert.

Thursday’s dinner is sold out, but concert tickets are still available by calling 540-839-5018. Thursday’s program will also be livestreamed on Garth Newel’s YouTube channel.

You can listen to the full interview by clicking the link below