Emily Tsai, a world renowned orchestral and chamber musician, and educator, is the Assistant Principal Oboe of the Washington National Opera Orchestra. The Washington Post’s opera critic, Michael Brodeur, quotes Emily’s playing as “frequently catching my ears from the pit.” She can be heard regularly performing operas, ballets, musicals, and chamber music at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. Emily is also on faculty at the University of Maryland School of Music. She is also an active freelancer in the DC metro area and has performed with the National Symphony Orchestra and the National Philharmonic among others.

A former MKI Artist, Emily was the oboist of WindSync, gold medalist at the Fischoff Competition, and medalist at the M-prize Competition. She has performed in venues such as Ravinia and the Library of Congress, and taught masterclasses at many institutions, including the Eastman School of Music, Northwestern University, and New World Symphony.

Emily has been on a number of recorded albums including All Worlds, All Times, which debuted at #2 on the Classical Billboard charts and WindSync plays Miguel del Aguila, recorded at the famous Abbey Road Studios in London, UK, which debuted at #1 on the Classical Billboard charts.

Emily has made solo appearances with the Lafayette Symphony Orchestra, River Oaks Chamber Orchestra, Alba Music Festival Orchestra, Paragon Philharmonia, Amadeus Orchestra, and others.

Emily began music at four years old on violin and started oboe when she was ten. Her main teachers include Mark Hill, Richard Killmer, and Malcolm Smith. Emily received her BM in Oboe Performance, with a Performer’s Certificate and Chamber Music Award from the Eastman School of Music, and BS in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology from the University of Rochester, graduating Magna Cum Laude. She received her MM from the University of Maryland as part of the Graduate Fellowship Quintet.

Emily is a Lorée Artist and plays on a Lorée Royal oboe and a Lorée English Horn.