Emily Sun

BMus, MPerf, ArtDip (RCM), Art Dip (Chapelle Musicale Reine Elisabeth)

Violin professor

“Possessed of a superb talent” (The Australian) with “a searing and poetic tone” (The Guardian), Emily Sun’s powerful sound and compelling, captivating interpretations have won her international renown, bringing exceptional artistry to every performance.

Emily is a concerto soloist, chamber musician and pedagogue based in London. She was the 2023-2024 Adelaide Symphony Orchestra Artist-in-Association, the residency included the world premiere of a new concerto commission from Elena Kats-Chernin. Her next concerto album release ‘Film Fantasia’ in Autumn 2024 on ABC Classic includes live recordings of Korngold Violin Concerto and John Williams with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra. Upcoming concerto debuts include with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Johannesburg Philharmonic and KZN Philharmonic Orchestras and season returns include with Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, Sydney Symphony Orchestra and recording with the London Mozart Players.

Recent concerto performances include Sydney Symphony, West Australian Symphony, Tasmanian Symphony, Qingdao Symphony, working with conductors Vasily Petrenko, Andrew Litton, Jaime Martin, Mark Wigglesworth, Johannes Fritzsch and Benjamin Northey. Emily has performed with the Arlington and Arizona Symphonies in the USA, Orchestre de Chambre Namur, European Union Chamber Orchestra and Orchestre de Chambre Namur in Europe; and Qingdao Symphony and Shanghai Youth Orchestra in China.

Since her Wigmore Hall debut, Emily performs around the world at venues including Sydney Opera House, Royal Albert Hall, Tchaikovsky Hall Moscow, Flagey Brussels. Emily was invited to perform Bach’s Double Violin Concerto alongside Maxim Vengerov at Buckingham Palace in the presence of HRH King Charles III, and at the Royal Palace of Brussels in the presence of the King and Queen of Belgium. Awards and prizes have included 2018 ABC Young Performers Award (Australia), the 2016 Royal Overseas League Music Competition (UK), and the Brahms (Austria), Yampolsky (Russia) and Lipizer (Italy) international violin competitions. She was a Young Concert Artist for the The Tillett Trust, City Music Foundation, The Worshipful Company of Musicians and Making Music.

Emily’s debut album ‘Nocturnes’ was released to critical acclaim, reaching and staying at No. 1 on the ARIA Classical Charts for 4 weeks and ARIA-nominated for ‘Best Classical Album’. She was the ABC Artist-in-Residence, BBC Introducing Artist and continues to have regular broadcasts on Classic FM, BBC Radio 3 (UK), WXQR (USA), and Musiq 3 (Belgium).

Emily studied with Dr Robin Wilson (Sydney Conservatorium of Music), Itzhak Rashkovsky (Royal College of Music, London), Augustin Dumay (Chapelle Musicale Reine Elisabeth, Belgium), and received further mentoring from Pinchas Zukerman, Maxim Vengerov and Ivry Gitlis.

Emily is violin professor at the Royal College of Music, London, and her students have won top prizes in competitions, and have been selected for orchestral jobs and schemes including with the London Symphony Orchestra. She plays a 1753 G.B. Guadagnini, on generous loan from the UKARIA Cultural Trust.

Faculties / departments: Strings