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Michael Emery, violin
Hailed by the late Henryk Szeryng as "a joy to hear" and by André-Michel Schub as "the chamber coach of the year", Michael Emery blends performance in the United States and Europe with his faculty position at Skidmore College, creating an active musical career.
Mr. Emery is concertmaster and frequent soloist with Catskill, Schenectady, and Glens Falls Symphonies in upstate New York, and the newly formed Orchestra of Santa Monica in California. A concert tour of the Philippines in February included performances of the Beethoven Triple Concerto and trio concerts at Silliman University and in Manila.
Mr. Emery has performed as soloist and concertmaster in several major European cities in summer concert tours with the Santa Monica Chamber Philharmonia and the Central New York Summer Orchestra. In 2001, he was soloist for the European premiere of Lux Aeterna by Maria Newman. In recent summers, Mr. Emery performed with and directed the Varna International Chamber Orchestra at the Spoleto International Music Festival in Italy, and was soloist in the Mozart Symphonia Concertante in Budapest, Bratislava and Prague.
Mr. Emery is on faculty and a performing artist with the Luzerne Music Festival, and has been invited to teach at the Mahler Conservatory of Music in Vienna this summer.
As Senior Artist-in-Residence at Skidmore College, Mr. Emery directs the expanding string department, working with talented students on solo, chamber music, and orchestral repertoire. Through the annual Skidmore String Festival, which he created in 2005, Mr. Emery has collaborated with several highly acclaimed guest artists such as the Brentano, Manhattan, American, and Ying Quartets.
Mr. Emery has performed with many international artists, including Ruggiero Ricci, André-Michel Schub, and Emanuel Ax. He was a participant in the Sibelius, Ludwig Spohr and Paganini International Violin Competitions.
Mr. Emery began his musical studies with Alfredo Cavalieri in Albany at the age of 10 and in two years was selected to perform in Carnegie Recital Hall by the Violin, Viola, and Violoncello Teacher's Guild of New York.
While earning his Masters Degree in Music Performance as a scholarship student at the Manhattan School of Music, Mr. Emery studied with the late Erick Friedman and Raphael Bronstein and served as Concertmaster of the Manhattan Symphony.