About

Bio

BIO

Emily Zelaya began playing the violin at age 3 in Anchorage, Alaska. At 10, her family moved to Iowa where she continued her studies and won 1st prize in the Waterloo/Cedar Falls Symphony Orchestra Concerto Competition. Emily went on to earn her Bachelor of Music degree in Violin Performance from the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, NY. Her most prominent long-term teachers included Beverly Beheim, Therese Fetter, Frederick Halgedahl, Mikhail Kopelman, and Zvi Zeitlin. During her early years, Emily attended many summer festivals, including Indiana University Summer String Academy (Mimi Zweig), Academy of Music at Ramapo College (Isaac Malkin, Emanuel Borok, Mikhail Kopelman), and Music Academy of the West (Zvi Zeitlin). Professionally, Emily has worked with the Skaneateles Festival in NY and the Endless Mountain Music Festival in PA. She has performed as a soloist with the Waterloo/Cedar Falls Symphony, Laredo Philharmonic Youth Orchestra, the Laredo Philharmonic, and Lux Musicae in San Antonio.

An avid orchestral player in professional orchestras since age 15, Emily performed regularly as concertmaster with all the orchestras at the Eastman School of Music, including Eastman School Symphony Orchestra, Eastman Philharmonia, Eastman Opera, and Eastman Studio Orchestra. Emily has been on the roster of the Waterloo/Cedar Falls Symphony Orchestra, Syracuse Symphony, Buffalo Philharmonic, Symphoria, Orchestra of the Southern Finger Lakes, Cayuga Chamber Orchestra, Binghamton Philharmonic, Columbus Symphony (GA), Victoria Symphony (TX), Corpus Christi Symphony, Mid-Texas Symphony, Gilbert and Sullivan Society in Houston, Bach Society in Houston, Houston Grand Opera, and the Houston Ballet.

Emily has a great love for chamber music, which began at summer music camps as a child. She studied for four years at Eastman with renowned first violinist of the Kopelman Quartet and former first violinist of the Borodin Quartet and Tokyo String Quartet, Mikhail Kopelman, which further fueled her affection for this medium. She has performed in chamber music groups consistently for the past 25 years, including Quartsemble, Marini String Ensemble, Cedar Valley Chamber Music, Monarch Chamber Players, Divisi Strings, Third Floor Strings, and Richard Brown.

Emily’s interests span beyond classical music. She has performed as violinist with Houston-based band Moodafaruka and on tour with the Dallas String Quartet. She has also performed in concert with Lindsey Stirling, Evanescence, Il Divo, Sarah Brightman, The Texas Tenors, Wilson Phillips, and Michael Bublé.

Emily has been teaching private lessons in violin, viola, and piano for the past 20 years. She has a private studio located in the Sugar Land Art Center & Gallery.

Emily is also pursuing an Advanced Professional Certificate in Orchestration for Film and TV through Berklee Online.

Emily is a proud member of the Houston chapter of the American Federation of Musicians Union .