Where Are They Now? Violinist Emma Simmons
November 11, 2023
All Classical Radio celebrates the 10th anniversary of On Deck with Young Musicians by following up with 10 of the musicians who were interviewed in the first season of the show. The series is hosted by All Classical intern Jahlysa Azaret.
Emma Simmons is a violinist based in Eugene, OR. In our sixth episode, Emma shares her thoughts on her interview from 10 years ago. She also talks about her interest in baroque music and advocating for herself as a queer, neurodivergent artist.
Click here to listen to Emma’s 2014 interview
The following is Emma’s 2023 bio:
Emma Simmons is a modern and baroque violinist hailing from Portland, Oregon with a passion for culturally and historically informed performance practice. She is an active performer and teacher throughout the Pacific Northwest, performing as a core member of the Collier Trio and the Oregon Bach Collegium. As a baroque violinist, Emma has performed in Eugene with the Oregon Bach Festival’s Berwick Academy, the Musicking Conference, and the Microphilharmonic. She has traveled internationally these last few summers, attending the Fondazione Italiana per la Musica Antica festival in Urbino, Italy in 2022, and the Tafelmusik Summer Baroque Institute in Toronto, Ontario as a 2023 recipient of the Early Music America IDEA Workshop Scholarship.
Emma performs regularly with the Eugene Symphony as a substitute violinist and has played with the Oregon Mozart Players, Eugene Opera and Rogue Valley Symphony Orchestra since moving to Eugene in 2020. While living in Washington, Emma played with the Pacific Northwest Opera and was Assistant Principal Second Violin for the Bellingham Symphony Orchestra from 2017 to 2020. As a soloist, she received third place at the 2021 Music International Grand Prix competition in the young adult strings category. Emma received her Master’s from the University of Oregon and Bachelor’s at Western Washington University, with a brief semester at the Eastman School of Music. Her previous teachers include Hal Grossman, Grant Donnellan, Charles Castleman, and Carol Sindell.
