Emily Ilyes

Violinist Dr. Emily Ilyes began her music studies at an early age and is quickly establishing her career as both a soloist and educator. She has performed in prestigious venues across the United States, including the Japanese Ambassador's Residence in Washington, D.C., The Grand Ole Opry and the Kennedy Center. Emily has also performed internationally throughout Argentina, Ireland and Japan. 

Emily currently holds the Principal Second Violin position with the Johnstown Symphony Orchestra in Johnstown, PA. She is also a member of the First Violin Section of the Roanoke Symphony Orchestra in Roanoke, VA, and has sat as acting Assistant Concertmaster and acting Principal Second Violin. In addition to her orchestral experience, Emily is the core First Violinist of the Chrysalis Chamber Players, a string quartet with international trumpet soloist Mary Elizabeth Bowden. The group has performed coast to coast throughout the United States. 

As an avid soloist, Emily made her orchestral debut at the age of 15 performing J.S. Bach's Violin Concerto in E Major. In the Fall of 2023, Emily won first prize in the Graduate Division of the Soloist Competition at Shenandoah Conservatory and performed the first movement of Jean Sibelius' Violin Concerto in D Minor with the Shenandoah Conservatory Symphony Orchestra. In 2022, she won first place in the Virginia MTNA for her performance of Brahms' Violin Concerto in D Major. She has also performed John Corigliano's Red Violin Concerto with the West Virginia University Symphony Orchestra. Most recently, Emily performed as a soloist for the College Music Society's Mid-Atlantic Conference at Virginia State University in March of 2026. 

In addition to her solo career, Emily is also passionate about music education. She is a member of the music faculty at Longwood University as the Assistant Professor of Strings where she teaches violin, viola, and directs the university's Chamber orchestra. Before teaching at the collegiate level, Emily taught orchestra at the elementary through high school levels in both public and private schools throughout Pennsylvania, Virginia, Texas and West Virginia. She is a sought-after orchestral clinician and adjudicator. 

Emily earned her Doctor of Musical Arts degree from Shenandoah Conservatory, where she received a post-master's degree scholarship at the highest level and studied with Dr. Akemi Takayama. She received her Master of Music degree from Texas Christian University where she accepted a graduate teaching assistantship, and studied with Dr. Elisabeth Adkins. She holds dual Bachelor of Music degrees in music education and violin performances from West Virginia University, where she studied under the direction of Dr. Mikylah Myers and earned a full-tuition scholarship. While at WVU, she performed in masterclasses for world-renowned violinists like Midori and Ray Chen. She was also the recipient of the prestigious Presser Scholar Award for demonstrating the highest level of academic and musical accomplishments. 

Emily currently performs on a 1769 Giuseppe Gagliano violin on a generous loan from the Ryuji Ueno Foundation.