Emma McAllister was raised in a family of musicians, starting her Suzuki violin training at age 3. Throughout her childhood and teenage years Emma performed with the Sacramento Youth Symphony, as well as Villa Sinfonia and Villa Chamber Orchestra in San Francisco. Emma graduated high school at age 16 and attended community college. With a flexible class schedule, Emma was able to devote more time to practicing violin, commuting to lessons, orchestra rehearsals, and gaining teaching experience. During this time, Emma performed with the Auburn Symphony, the Light Opera Theater of Sacramento, the CSU Sacramento symphony and opera orchestras, Apollo Orchestra, Panache Orchestra, and the Lake Tahoe Music Festival.

Emma earned her Bachelor of Music degree in Violin Performance in 2015, followed by her Master of Music degree in Violin Performance in 2017, from the Bob Cole Conservatory at Cal State Long Beach, under the mentorship of Moni Simeonov, as well as occasional lessons from Midori Goto. Throughout her time at BCCM, Emma served as concertmaster of the opera orchestra, and as concertmaster of the symphony orchestra, performing the concertmaster solos in Stravinsky’s Pulcinella Suite. In her senior year of undergrad, Emma was chosen by Midori Goto to be the recipient of a loaner violin from a private collection of fine instruments. During this time Emma was a section violinist in YMF Debut Orchestra, American Youth Symphony, and YASO (Young Artists’ Symphony Orchestra) in Los Angeles.

After graduating with her master’s degree, Emma spent two more years in Long Beach, CA as professor of violin at Santa Ana College in addition to her private studio of violin and piano students, and playing for various shows and recording sessions in Los Angeles. Emma can be seen playing violin on episodes of The Ellen Show, The Assassination of Gianni Versace: An American Crime Story, the AFI Lifetime Achievement Award for John Williams, and GRAMMY Salute to Music Legends (2019). Before relocating to the UK, Emma recorded in the orchestra for the Netflix Original animated show Green Eggs and Ham, and performed for ‘The Little Mermaid’ Live at the Hollywood Bowl, The Game Awards, and the MLS All-Star Game Pre-Game Show. Emma also enjoyed teaching and consulting for the violin scenes on the Hulu original series, Little Fires Everywhere. In 2019 Emma moved to London as her wife was pursuing a master’s degree at King’s College London. While in the UK, Emma played for weddings and events with City String Ensemble, in such venues as the Victoria and Albert Museum and the Royal Chapel of All Saints in Windsor. Emma also performed regularly for children’s music classes at The Little London Music School, recorded with renowned jazz group Down for the Count, and taught violin lessons at Kent Music. In 2020, after several months in the Covid-19 lockdown in London, Emma and her wife Fiona returned to California.

In 2020, Emma started rebuilding her private teaching studio. Now called SoCal String Studio, this community of over 50 private violin and piano students in and around Long Beach, California boasts some of the most talented and successful young performers in the area. Many SoCal String Studio students have been awarded concertmaster positions in their school orchestras and in the LBUSD All-District Honors Orchestras, and won auditions for CODA Honors Orchestras and SCSBOA All-Southern middle school and high school orchestras. Cultivating a tight knit community of passionate young musicians has been by far the most rewarding of all of Emma’s musical endeavors.

Emma remains active as an orchestral player, performing regularly with InConcert Sierra Chamber Orchestra and Downey Symphony. Emma plays on a Rezvani violin.