"Not only... all the traditional skills of speed, articulation, clarity, but... a wonderful sensitivity to tone and phrase...turn[s] notes into something that lives and breathes. [The] music is alive... There is no getting away from this cleanness and clarity -- this freshness -- it is like standing on the top of a mountain."
- Beryl Ladd, pianist
"...an accomplished pianist. Her training had been top notch and her performance was clean and intelligent... excellent qualities in her interpretation... She worked extremely hard on a difficult program...a real knuckle-buster...to great success... She was reluctant to extol her virtues [but] had nothing to be modest about."
- Morton Estrin, pianist
"...a remarkably talented musician... a clarity and depth like that of fine wine... Her soul shined through her fingertips, and there was a lot of beauty in everything she played, whether it was solo music, accompaniment, or chamber music."
- Carol Block Whited
Rhoda Pinsley Levin was a pianist and music educator active in the Long Island and Hofstra University musical communities. A piano teacher with a large following, she also served as vice president of the Hofstra-sponsored Pro Arte Symphony Orchestra League and, previously, as choral music teacher in the public school systems of Netcong, New Jersey, and Mamaroneck and North Merrick, New York.
In addition to her solo concertizing, Mrs. Levin performed as accompanist for various chamber music, vocal and modern dance groups, and for Classroom Materials Inc. of Great Neck, which provided musical instructional recordings to public schools. She also toured the country and performed on radio with the Oberlin Woodwind Ensemble.
Born in New York City in 1929, Mrs. Levin was raised in Freeport, Long Island, and later Forest Hills. After attending the High School of Music and Art in New York City, she received a Bachelor of Music degree from Oberlin Conservatory of Music and a Masters in Music Education from Columbia University.
Mrs. Levin died of cancer in 1971 at the age of 41. Hofstra's annual Rhoda Pinsley Levin Endowed Award for Excellence in Musical Performance assists promising senior undergraduate musicians in their scholarly and vocational pursuits. Her legacy is honored by that award, its annual recitals, and Hofstra's Rhoda Levin Piano Literature Collection.
The Kings Park Heritage Museum in Suffolk County, Long Island, New York includes an online exhibit featuring the lives and work of the Pinsley family at Kings Park State Hospital, accompanied by music performed by Rhoda Pinsley Levin.
Mrs. Levin's father, Irving Pinsley, was the hospital's chief psychiatrist from 1948 to 1972. During those years, his wife Rose Daniels Pinsley was director of the hospital's children's social work unit.
Ms. Levin has to be one of the most expressive and technically adept pianists I have ever listened to. Pure beauty! I really love the playing, and especially love the feel of Kurka's Sonata. Thanks for sharing this work with the world!
