Violinist Emma Carleton joins the Toronto Symphony Orchestra as Assistant Principal Second
Violin in the 2026/27 season. Previously a member of the first violin section of the Hartford Symphony Orchestra and a tenured violinist with the New Haven Symphony Orchestra, she has also performed with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra and the New World Symphony. Emma has appeared as guest concertmaster with the New Haven Symphony Orchestra at Woolsey Hall. She also served as concertmaster of the Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra, leading a performance of Stravinsky’s Agon under Thomas Adès. At New England Conservatory, she appeared as concertmaster of both the NEC Philharmonia and NEC Chamber Orchestra.
A passionate performer of contemporary music, Emma served as concertmaster for the world premiere of Wayne Shorter and Esperanza Spalding’s opera Iphigenia in Boston. She has also performed Bernard Rands’s Music for Shoko: Aubade in a Boston Symphony Orchestra Prelude Concert and has been featured in performances presented by the Callithumpian Consort and the Guitar Foundation of America. Emma has collaborated across genres as a member of the Auerbach String Quartet, performing with Connecticut State Troubadour Charlie Widmer and his bluegrass band, On the Trail. In recognition of her commitment to contemporary music, she received New England Conservatory’s John Cage Award in 2022.
Emma is also a dedicated chamber musician. While studying at the Yale School of Music, her string quartet won the Oneppo Chamber Music Competition and performed Bartók’s String Quartet No. 1 in Sprague Hall. The ensemble was subsequently awarded Yale’s Broadus Erle Prize, which recognizes an outstanding string quartet at the School of Music. Emma has performed under conductors including Andris Nelsons, Herbert Blomstedt, Hugh Wolff, Ludovic Morlot, Perry So, Carolyn Kuan, and Jonathon Heyward. Her festival appearances include the Tanglewood Music Center, Music Academy of the West, Bowdoin International Music Festival, and Meadowmount School of Music.
A native of New York City, Emma began playing the violin at age three and studied for seven years at Juilliard Pre-College. She earned her Master of Musical Arts degree from the Yale School of Music, where she studied with Soovin Kim. She also holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees and a graduate diploma from New England Conservatory, where her teachers included Paul Biss, Ayano Ninomiya, and Miriam Fried.
Outside of music, Emma enjoys practicing conversational French, gardening, and going on walks with her dog, Wally.