Emma Schmiedecke

Cello

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. A strong advocate for contemporary music and innovative collaboration, she has worked closely with composers Joan Tower, John Corigliano, George Tsontakis, Ana Sokolovic, Susan Botti, and Stacy Garrop, and has performed with the Da Capo Chamber Players, the American Composers Orchestra, Fifth House Ensemble, Against the Grain Theatre Company, Novarumori Ensemble, the Contemporaneous New Music Ensemble, New Music Concerts, and the HATCH 2022 Ensemble in multiple world premieres.
As guest soloist, Emma has performed with the Woodstock Chamber Orchestra, Bergen Philharmonic, and Bravura Philharmonic and has 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, Steven Dann, Barry Shiffman, Duo Concertante, the Gryphon Trio, and the Shanghai Quartet.
She is cellist and co- founder of Duo Caprice, is a core member of OrchestraOne NYC, and has performed as cellist in the American Symphony Orchestra, the Vermont Symphony Orchestra, the Opera Company of Middlebury Orchestra, the Opera Italiana Symphony Orchestra, the Pronto Musica Chamber Orchestra, and the Orchestre Symphonique de l’Agora. She 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, the Fresh Inc. New Music Festival, the Vermont Mozart Festival, the 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.
A dedicated teacher, Emma teaches at Sistema Toronto, was a teaching artist in cello for the Orchestra of St. Luke’s Youth Orchestra and Music Education program, and has been a chamber music coach at the Phil and Eli Taylor Performance Academy for Young Artists of the Royal Conservatory of Music. Emma attends the University of Toronto School of Music as a doctoral candidate in Cello Performance in the studio of Joseph Johnson and is a teaching assistant for the Department of Strings and the Contemporary Music Ensemble. She also holds degrees from the Schulich School of Music of McGill University, the Glenn Gould School of the Royal Conservatory of Music, the Bard College Conservatory, and Bard College. 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. She plays a 1918 Italian cello “Tutto” by Puglisi of Catania.