Emily Sun

Equally at home in recital and in front of an orchestra, Australian violinist Emily Sun was the winner of the 2018 ABC Young Performers Award, which will see her perform concertos with the Melbourne, Sydney, and Adelaide Symphony Orchestras in the coming seasons.

‘Possessed of a superb talent’ (The Advertiser), with ‘a perfect balance of expressivity and formidable strength’ (The Australian), violinist Emily Sun is in demand internationally for her compelling and captivating interpretations of both new and classic repertoire. Her impressive versatility as soloist, chamber musician and recitalist and genuine connection with her audiences allows Emily to perform with leading orchestras and festivals across Europe, the USA, Asia and Australasia.

I would definitely recommend CMF to everyone – now that I’m working at the RCM, I encourage people to apply all the time – you need to think beyond the end of your education to your career!

A multi international prize winner, Emily was awarded the Tagore Gold Medal from the Royal College of Music, presented to her by HRH Prince of Wales. She won the 2018 ABC Young Performer of the Year (Australia), and the 2016 Royal Overseas League Commonwealth Musician of the Year (UK), and international competition prizes at Brahms International Violin Competition (Austria), Yampolsky International Violin Competition (Russia), Bromsgrove International Music Competition (UK), and Lipizer International Violin Competition (Italy). She was a Young Concert Artist for the Tillett Trust, The Worshipful Company of Musicians and City Music Foundation.

Emily has performed in major concert venues including Sydney Opera House, Wigmore Hall, Royal Albert Hall, Bridgewater Hall Manchester, Tchaikovsky Great Hall Moscow, Auditorium du Louvre Paris, and Flagey Brussels. She was invited to perform at Buckingham Palace alongside Maxim Vengerov in Bach’s Double Violin Concerto at the Royal Gala in the presence of HRH Prince of Wales, and at the Royal Palace of Brussels in the presence of the King and Queen of Belgium.

As a concerto soloist, Emily has appeared with orchestras worldwide including the Sydney Symphony, Melbourne Symphony, Tasmanian Symphony, Queensland Symphony and Canberra Symphony Orchestras in Australia; Arlington Symphony, Arizona Symphony and Garland Symphony Orchestras in USA; Shanghai Youth Orchestra and Qingdao Symphony Orchestra in China; European Union Chamber Orchestra, Orchestre de Royal Wallonie and Orchestre de Chambre Namur in Europe.

An active chamber musician, Emily has collaborated with musicians such as Maxim Vengerov, Gary Hoffman, Miguel da Silva, Marc Coppey, Danny Driver, Gemma Rosefield and is regularly invited to perform at music festivals across Europe.

As a teen, Emily shot to national fame after being featured in the acclaimed award-winning Australian documentary ‘Mrs Carey’s Concert’. Her media presence continues as the ABC Artist-in-Residence, BBC Introducing Artist, with regular broadcast on Classic FM, BBC Three (UK), Kol Hamusica (Israel), WXQR (USA), and Musiq 3 (Belgium).

Emily studied with Dr Robin Wilson at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, Itzhak Rashkovsky at the Royal College of Music, London and Augustin Dumay at Chapelle Musicale Reine Elisabeth, Belgium. She received mentoring from Pinchas Zukerman, Maxim Vengerov and Ivry Gitlis. Emily is an Assistant Professor of Violin at the Royal College of Music, London.

Engagements in 2020 included concertos with Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, Adelaide Symphony Orchestra, Queensland Symphony Orchestra, a national chamber tour with Selby & Friends, and recitals at Seoul Arts Centre, Bozar Brussels, and Royal Albert Hall London.

Emily plays a 1760 Nicolo Gagliano violin kindly loaned to her through the Beare’s International Violin Society.