Emelyn Bashour
About
Violinist Emelyn Bashour (BM, Eastman School of Music; MM, University of Michigan) has performed across North and South America. During her studies she served as concertmaster of both U-M’s University Symphony Orchestra and the Eastman Philharmonia. She is also an alum of the New England Conservatory Preparatory School. Previous teachers include Aaron Berofsky, Renée Jolles, and Lynn Chang, and she has worked with artists such as Edward Dusinberre, Lina Yu, William Preucil, Naoko Tanaka, and the Calidore String Quartet. She has also trained in Celtic/Cape Breton style fiddle playing, and has appeared at bluegrass festivals along the East Coast as well as the Rollo Bay Fiddle Festival in PEI, Canada.
A seasoned orchestral player, Emelyn is a member of the symphony orchestras of Ann Arbor, Lansing, Flint, and Dearborn, as well as the Des Moines Metro Opera Orchestra. She is an associate member of the Civic Orchestra of Chicago and a substitute with the New World Symphony. She has participated in selective fellowship programs such as the Orpheus@Mannes Intensive, Vermont Mozart Festival, National Orchestral Institute, and Aspen Music Festival; served as assistant concertmaster at Opera in the Ozarks; and played in the orchestra at Spoleto Festival USA for two seasons. During Spoleto’s 2019 season she served as concertmaster for the festival’s flagship production of Salome, and was engaged as a featured soloist for the 2020 season. She has also worked with distinguished conductors such as Osmo Vanska, David Zinman, Hugh Wolff, and Hannu Lintu.
As a soloist and chamber player, Emelyn is a passionate advocate for contemporary music. She has performed with members of the International Contemporary Ensemble, been coached by members of Eighth Blackbird and the Aizuri Quartet, and worked with composers such as Nico Muhly, David Lang, and Eve Beglarian. She was a featured guest performer at Central Michigan University’s New Music Symposium with ÆPEX Contemporary Performance, and with U-M’s Contemporary Directions Ensemble has performed as part of New Music Detroit’s Strange Beautiful Music series and the Great Performances series at the Toledo Museum of Art. She was also engaged as the concertmaster of a 2020 touring ensemble to Austria and Poland to perform new editions of works composed by inmates at the Auschwitz concentration camp. She is a member of the Ann Arbor-based mixed-instrumental ensemble Girlnoise as well as contemporary violin-cello duo Parataxis.
In addition to her busy performance schedule, Emelyn coaches the first violin section of the Michigan Youth Symphony Orchestra and is an active teacher and freelancer in the Ann Arbor/Detroit area, with studios at Expressions Music Academy (Novi, MI) and the Hudson Education Center (Dexter, MI) as well as private students.
I like to use a "setup first" approach with my students; that is, using exercises and repertoire that will help the student build a good physical foundation on the instrument. The instrument is an extension of your body, so the most important thing is to feel comfortable and in control. For beginners, I use many of the same principles and methods outlined in the Suzuki books, although I do not follow the Suzuki Method strictly.
I want my students to express their creativity and encourage them to listen widely and choose their own repertoire. I particularly love to see my students play pieces by women or BIPOC composers.
I teach students at any level, but I generally prefer my students to have at least a couple months of lesson experience OR a year of school orchestra experience. The ability to read music is not necessary.
Education:
Bachelor of Music (High Distinction), Eastman School of Music
Bachelor of Arts (summa cum laude), University of Rochester
Master of Music, University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre & Dance