Emma Simmons is a recent graduate of the UO, having completed her Master’s in violin performance with professor Hal Grossman in June of 2022. Since moving to Eugene in 2020 she has played with the Eugene Symphony Orchestra, the Microphilharmonic, and was a fellow with Orchestra Next. Emma is an active performer in the Pacific Northwest region, holding positions as Assistant Principal Second Violin for the Bellingham Symphony Orchestra from 2017-20, and in the Pacific Northwest Opera for their 2018 and 2019 seasons. As a soloist, she received third place at the 2021 Music International Grand Prix competition in the young adult strings category, second place in the 2018 and 2019 Virginia Glover Competition, and was a 2014 winner of the MetroArts Inc Van Buren Concerto Competition. In 2014 Emma began studying baroque violin in classes with Paul O’Dette and Christel Thielmann, and has continued these studies at the UO, playing with the Collegium Musicum and Oratorio ensembles. She attended the 2022 Fondazione Italiana per la Musica Antica festival in Urbino, Italy, where she studied with baroque violinists Susanne Sholz and Ryo Terakado. Her previous teachers include Grant Donnellan, Charles Castleman, and Carol Sindell.