Violin virtuoso

Emily Westell hopes to make her future a symphony

by Jill Foran

Emily Westell (BMus’06) was 4 years old when she asked her parents for violin lessons. Even as a child, she knew she wanted to play professionally. Now a recent graduate in performance from the U of C’s music department, Westell has spent the last 17 years pursuing her dream. From winning the Canadian Music Competition at age 19, to beating out international musicians for placements in prestigious summer programs, she has a competitive spirit that has already taken her far. As one of four winners of this year’s U of C Concerto Competition, Westell performed Brahms’s Violin Concerto in D Majorwith the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra in April at the Rosza Centre.

Excited to play with the CPO, Westell hopes to one day perform with the Boston Symphony or the New York Philharmonic. “It’s almost impossible to do,” she says of landing such a job, “but interesting things always seem to come up, so you never really know.”

Having recently auditioned at such renowned graduate schools as Juilliard, Yale, and the New England Conservatory, Westell will attend her first choice of the New England Conservatory. And while she has her heart set on continuing her studies at a larger school in the U.S., she has valued her time at the University of Calgary. A loyal student of violin instructor Edmond Agopian (holder of the U of C’s John P. L. Roberts Distinguished Professorship in Fine Arts), she thinks highly of all her professors in the music department and is thankful for the opportunities she’s had at the U of C. “The thing I like about [this department] is that even though it’s small, if you’re a motivated student, there are tons of opportunities, such as playing with the CPO. A chance like that wouldn’t come up at many other schools."

Return to Spring 2006 issue »