Heralded as a “First-magnitude star in the making” by the Seattle Times, British violinist Emma McGrath made her London debut aged 10 in the Purcell Room and at 14 she performed Bruch’s Violin Concerto No. 1, in the Queen Elizabeth Hall with the London Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Howard Shelley, broadcast live on Classic FM. She has since performed with numerous professional orchestras such as the Seattle Symphony, Royal Northern Sinfonia, Northern Chamber Orchestra, Jacksonville Symphony, the West Australia Symphony Orchestra and the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra, and has toured France, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Brunei, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Russia, Israel, Australia, the UK and the USA as a soloist. In 1999 she won Cumbria’s Keldwyth Award, and in 2002 she was a National String Finalist in the BBC Young Musicians Competition, broadcast on UK TV and radio. In 2002 she was awarded the Mozart prize in the International Yampolsky Violin Competition in Russia, and consequently performed with the Moscoviya Chamber Orchestra in the Great Hall of the Tchaikovsky Conservatoire, Moscow. With the Panormo Quartet she won the Helen Just and Susan Connell prize for string chamber music, and played at the Wigmore Hall. Emma has given many recitals in Europe, Asia, Australia, and the USA, and has a strong interest in contemporary works, having had several specially written for her. She features on the CD ‘Defiant Dames’ in aid of breast cancer, and also released ‘Fireborn’, a collection of live performances in aid of Signpost International. Whilst still a teenager she was a founding member of the Celtic band Tarras, with whom she was signed to three record companies and recorded the album ‘Rising’. This reached No. 1 in the Folk charts and was voted Mojo’s Folk Album of the Month, and the band toured Germany, Holland and the USA. Emma also sings professionally and is a published and recorded composer. Her debut CD, ‘The Girl Stands’ was made at age 18 and is an eclectic mix of violin, fiddle and vocal music. Her most recent CD, recorded in 2018, is comprised of works by the British composer Robin Walker – ‘Turning Towards You’, which has received international acclaim, including a 5 star review in The Times. She is a graduate of the Keshet Eilon Violin Mastercourse in Israel and the Bowdoin Summer Music Festival in Maine, USA, and was awarded a Jerwood Scholarship to studyat the International Musician’s Seminar in Prussia Cove, where she was invited back to play amongst internationally renowned musicians in the Open Chamber Music course. She was awarded the Ernest Cooke Scholarship to attend the Lake District Summer Music Festival, and has been a fellow of the Tanglewood Music Center, USA, where she gave a concerto performance and was awarded the coveted Violin Prize. Emma has also been a member of the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain, the National Repertory Orchestra, USA, and the UBS Verbier Festival Orchestra, Switzerland. Other summer ventures have included participation in the Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music in Santa Cruz, Strings in the Mountains in Steamboat Springs, and the Bellingham Festival of Music, Washington. Emma graduated with a BMus(Hons) First Class from the Royal College of Music where she was a Foundation Scholar and Concertmaster of every ensemble and orchestra. She studied violin with Ani Schnarch and singing with Margaret Cable and was generously supported by the Emerton Christie Trust. Emma has also received awards from the Martin Musical Scholarship Fund, the Edmund Castle Trust, the Musicians Benevolent Fund, the Tillett Trust and the Countess of Munster Musical Trust. Emma completed her MMus and Artist Diploma in America at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, studying with Andrés Cardenés. Whilst there she was Concertmaster of every orchestra and was a member of The Starling Quartet, with whom she toured China and played at Steinway Hall, NYC. She won the 2004 Concerto Competition, and was the winner of the faculty nominated Violin Scholarship twice. She also won the inaugural Gindroz Travel/Study prize, for independent travel and research in music and architecture in Europe. In 2006 she was invited to be a member of Pi Kappa Lambda, America’s national music honour society, in recognition of her high level of musical achievement and academic excellence. In 2007 she was a winner of the Pittsburgh Concert Society’s major auditions. Emma was the Associate Concertmaster of the Seattle Symphony Orchestra and the Seattle Opera Orchestra, from 2009 to 2016; She served as Acting Concertmaster of the Seattle Symphony/Opera for two seasons, and was also Concertmaster for Seattle’s 2012 production and recording of Richard Wagner’s Ring Cycle, under Asher Fisch. She was previously the Assistant Concertmaster of the Colorado Symphony Orchestra, frequently performed with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, and toured Australia and Japan with the Australian Chamber Orchestra. Emma has alsobeen a Guest Concertmaster with the BBC Symphony Orchestra, the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra, the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, the Royal Northern Sinfonia, the Hallé, the West Australia Symphony Orchestra, the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra, and Orchestra Wellington in New Zealand. In 2018, Emma was offered the Concertmaster position in Jacksonville, Florida, and as such she performed Mozart’s Violin Concerto No. 3, Monti’s Czardas, and Strauss’s Ein Heldenleben with them. Emma has been a faculty member of Seattle University and also maintained a successful private teaching studio in Seattle. Whilst living in the USA she was in great demand for masterclasses and adjudication at Seattle University, Seattle Conservatory of Music, University of Washington, Denver University, and the University of Utah. Her students have been accepted into Yellowbarn, Tanglewood, Bowdoin International Music Festival, the National Youth Symphony Orchestra of America, the University of Colorado, Northwestern University, Columbia University, and Boston University. Emma has an affinity for baroque music and was frequently featured as a baroque violinist with Pacific Music Works, the Early Music Guild in Seattle, and Van Diemen’s Band in Tasmania. Her numerous sold-out performances of Vivaldi’s Four Seasons with the Seattle Symphony (on modern violin but with baroque interpretation) were met with great critical acclaim. Since 2016, Emma has been making her life in Hobart as the Concertmaster of the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra. Recent solos with the orchestra include Max Richter’s Four Seasons (Recomposed), the Lark Ascending, Mozart’s Violin Concerto No. 3 in G major, Britten’s Violin Concerto, and Bruch’s Violin Concerto No. 1 in G minor. From 2017 – 2019 she was a member of the Kettering Piano Quartet, and since 2019 has been a member of the Tasmanian String Quartet. Emma has been a featured soloist and chamber musician in the Tasmanian Chamber Music Festival, and will be a featured Guest Artist in the Bangalow Music Festival in 2022. Conducting is a new endeavour, and Emma maintains an ongoing relationship conducting the Hobart Chamber Orchestra, presenting many works by female and/or Australian composers. Passionately invested in the next generation of musicians and enthusiastic amateurs, Emma has enjoyed working with students from UTAS, and ANAM, Women on the Podium participants (with the Perth SymphonyOrchestra), and the Australian Doctor’s Orchestra. Away from music, Emma enjoys bushwalking in Tasmania’s wild places.