Emma Powell, violin

Originally from Ann Arbor, MI, Emma Powell recently moved to the Boston area after completing her MM degree at the Shepherd School of Music at Rice University, where she studied with Paul Kantor. Previously, she graduated magna cum laude from Princeton University where she received her BA in music theory/musicology with a certificate in violin performance, under the instruction of Sunghae Anna Lim. During this time, she also briefly studied with Yuri Zhislin at the Royal College of Music in London for a one-semester program abroad. Upon completing her degree, she was awarded the Isidore and Helen Sacks Memorial Prize for extraordinary achievement in the arts, granted each year to the student of greatest promise in the performance of classical music. 

A dedicated chamber musician, she has been an active member of several ensembles, including KINETIC, an artist-led collaborative ensemble of young professional string players based in Houston, TX. During her undergraduate studies, she was a founding member and president of Opus 21 the first student-run chamber music collective dedicated to bringing an eclectic repertory of chamber music to the Princeton University campus and beyond. In early 2020, she was invited back to perform with the ensemble on a week-long cultural exchange tour in Sweden, where she shared the stage with new members of Opus 21 and Swedish pianist Per Tengstrand. As a soloist, Emma has performed with several orchestras including the Michigan Pops Orchestra, the Princeton University Orchestra, and the Birmingham-Bloomfield Symphony. Over the summers, she has served as concertmaster at the Tanglewood Music Center, Spoleto Festival USA, and Roundtop Festival Institute.

Aside from classical music, she has a budding interest in exploring alternative genres including jazz and traditional folk music, and is currently learning to play the mandolin.