Ashwini Kreigh-McNeal
Viola
The year was 2009, 3rd grade was the year we were allowed to choose an instrument to learn and I was so excited to be a part of something big. I decided I wanted to be different from the other children and not play the violin. I chose the viola, and it was ride or die from there. I played all through grade school, picking up (and putting down) piano and saxophone along the way.
I played in youth orchestras and took private lessons through my childhood, joining MSO when I was 15. I faithfully played with them through high school, stepping away to attend SMCC to study Culinary Arts and the University of Maine, where I obtained a Bachelors in Food Science and Human Nutrition. After moving back to the area, I rejoined MSO in fall 2025.
When I’m not playing in the Orchestra, I’m usually cooking something elaborate and forcing my friends to eat it, drawing/painting or otherwise engaging in art, or scouring thrift stores for things I don’t need. I currently work in Lewiston as a QA technician at LePage bakeries and I live in Brunswick with my partner William and our two potentially evil cats.
