Strings

Emily Chao

Violin I

Violinist Emily Chao joined the Tucson Symphony Orchestra in 2017, and also performs with Tucson Pops Orchestra, True Concord Voices & Orchestra, and Borderlands Ensemble, as well as Arizona Philharmonic and the Sierra Vista Symphony. She is artist-in-residence for the Santa Cruz Foundation of the Performing Arts and performs chamber music regularly at the Benderly-Kendall Opera House as well as other venues throughout southern Arizona with her groups, the Sky Islands Piano Trio and Quartetto Patagonia. As a founding member of the community-oriented ensemble Chamberhood, sponsored by Arizona Friends of Chamber Music, Emily works to collaborate with local venues, commission new works from local composers, and make classical music more accessible to the Tucson community. She also volunteers as personnel manager and secretary of the board for Tucson Repertory Orchestra. Emily received a DMA from Boston University, where she studied with Lynn Chang and completed a dissertation on Karol Szymanowski’s First Violin Concerto. She holds BM and MM degrees from New England Conservatory, where she studied with James Buswell.