Praised for her “huge musicality, depth of interpretation, and technical expertise” (Manhattan International Music Competition), cellist Emma Schmiedecke has established herself as a vibrant interpreter of both the classical and contemporary cello repertoire. As guest soloist, Emma has performed with the Woodstock Chamber Orchestra, Bergen Philharmonic, and Bravura Philharmonic, and performed in masterclasses for Steven Isserlis, Colin Carr, Raphael Wallfisch, David Geringas, Leon Fleisher, and Arnold Steinhardt, among others. As a chamber musician, she has been mentored by artists including Ida Kavafian, Levon Chilingirian, Daniel Phillips, Scott St. John, Duo Concertante, the Gryphon Trio, and the Shanghai Quartet. Emma has appeared at Ottawa Chamberfest and Big Lake Chamber Music Festival with the Continuum HATCH Contemporary Ensemble, and has been a visiting artist at The Banff Centre, the Centre d’Arts Orford, the Toronto Summer Music Festival, Domaine Forget de Charlevoix Chamber Music Festival, Vermont Mozart Festival, Atlantic Music Festival, the Heifetz Institute, the Round Top Festival Institute, the Tafelmusik Baroque Summer Institute, the NYU Steinhardt String Quartet Seminar, and the Oxford Cello School in Oxford, England. Select awards and prizes include a Silver Medal in the Professional Category of the 4th Manhattan International Music Competition, the Temerty Family Foundation Scholarship, the Mai Why and Peter Levitt Graduate Scholarship, the Clive Allen Fellowship, the Denise Ireland & Harry Underwood Fellowship, the Ingeborg and Angela Kramer Award, a McGill University Graduate Dean’s Award, and first prize in the Bravura Philharmonic and Bergen Philharmonic Young Artist Competitions.
A dedicated teacher, Emma teaches at the Lane School of Music and the University of Toronto, was a teaching artist in cello for the Orchestra of St. Luke’s Youth Orchestra & Music Education Program and Sistema Toronto, and has been a chamber music coach at the Glenn Gould School of the Royal Conservatory of Music and its pre-college program, the Phil and Eli Taylor Performance Academy for Young Artists. Emma holds a Doctor of Music in Cello Performance from the University of Toronto School of Music, and she obtained both a Master of Music and Graduate Diploma in Cello Performance from the Schulich School of Music of McGill University. She also holds an Artist Diploma from the Glenn Gould School of the Royal Conservatory of Music, a Bachelor of Music from the Bard College Conservatory of Music, and a Bachelor of Arts in Art History from Bard College, all magna cum laude. Her primary teachers include Peter Wiley, Matt Haimovitz, Yegor Dyachkov, Desmond Hoebig, Andrés Diaz, Sophie Shao, Luis Garcia-Renart, André Emelianoff, Bjørn Bantock, and Jonathan Spitz.