EMMA FRUCHT

Violinist Emma Frucht’s favorite way of communicating with the world has been music for as long as she can remember. A native New Yorker, she grew up in a musical family – her mother is a violist, and her father (a neurologist by profession) plays violin and piano. Emma completed her undergraduate studies at Harvard University, majoring in Art History with a focus on Modern and Contemporary Art. Upon graduating from Harvard, she received the Robert Levin prize for excellence in musical performance. She earned her Master of Music degree from the Juilliard School as a Kovner Fellow, studying with Naoko Tanaka and Daniel Phillips. Her other primary teachers include Lynn Chang and Louise Behrend. Emma joined the faculty of Adelphi University in the fall of 2022 as an Adjunct Professor of Violin. 

Shortly after graduating from Juilliard, Emma joined the GRAMMY-nominated Aizuri Quartet. Notable highlights of recent seasons include the quartet’s major concerto debut with the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra in performances of John Adams’s Absolute Jest, their debuts at the 92nd Street Y, Carnegie Hall, and the Celebrity Series of Boston, a fellowship with WQXR for their Artist Propulsion Lab, and Chamber Music America’s Cleveland Quartet Award. 

In addition to quartet playing, Emma is a tenured member of the Orchestra of St. Luke’s, frequently serving as concertmaster and principal second violin. She performs regularly in leadership positions with the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra and New York Classical Players, and is a frequent guest of the American Ballet Theater Orchestra, the American Symphony Orchestra, East Coast Chamber Orchestra, and A Far Cry. Her work as concertmaster has taken place under the batons of conductors such as John Adams, Federico Cortese, Gustavo Dudamel, Alan Gilbert, David LaMarche, Gerard Schwarz, and Osmo Vänska. 

Chamber music has always been a great love of Emma’s. She has been an artist at numerous festivals over the past decade, including the Halcyon Music Festival, the Kyoto International Music Festival, Manchester Summer Chamber Music, the Taos School of Music, and Yellow Barn. She is a frequent guest of the Mistral Music series in Boston, MA, and has performed on numerous chamber music series in the New York area, including the Orchestra of St. Luke’s Temple Emanu-El series, Tertulia Chamber Music, Bargemusic’s Semplice Players, and tours with the Noree Chamber Soloists. Recent partnerships have included Natasha Brofsky, Jerry Grossman, David Hardy, Michael Kannen, Alan Kay, Seth Knopp, Anthony McGill, Demarre McGill, Katherine Murdock, Heng-Jin Park, Daniel Phillips, Carol Rodland, Marcy Rosen, Naoko Tanaka, the late Roger Tapping, Dan Tepfer, Marcus Thompson, and the Kronos Quartet. A fierce advocate of new music, Emma relishes any chance to collaborate with living composers. She has participated in numerous premieres, and has worked closely with composers such as Kinan Azmeh, Lembit Beecher, Douglas Cuomo, Brett Dean, Jennifer Higdon, Laura Karpman, David Serkin Ludwig, Layale Chaker, Steve Mackey, Missy Mazzoli, George Meyer, Nico Muhly, Caroline Shaw, Daniel Temkin, Michi Wiancko, Paul Wiancko, and Jörg Widmann.