Emily Zwijack

Emily Zwijack is an undergraduate at The Chicago College of Performing Arts, pursuing a double degree in Music Education and Violin Performance. She currently studies with renowned violinists Almita Vamos and MingHuan Xu Choi.

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     Emily grew up in the Chicago area where she developed a substantial passion for the violin at age 12. She studied privately with Matthew Mantell and Carl Johnston. Emily was a member of the Protege Philharmonic, Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestra, and the CYSO chamber music program. She served as concertmaster of the Argo Community High School Honors Chamber orchestra for 3 years. Emily was the president of her high school orchestra council and managed an online platform representing the schools’ music page. She also currently manages her own Instagram page where she posts engaging content, practice videos, performances, and teaching clips to show the joy and journey of learning a musical instrument. She has a significant following of almost 40,000. On her Instagram platform, she goes by thatcrazyviolingirl. ​

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     In her early music career, Emily was selected for the prestigious Illinois Music Education Association (ILMEA) District festival all 4 years of high school. She also had the privilege of attending the All-State conference festival in 2019 and 2020, where she was announced 15th overall in the Illinois Honors State Orchestra 1st violin section. She has been a part of many other musical events such as Birch Creek, Illinois Summer Youth Music (ISYM), Chicago International Music Institute (CIMI), Suburban Youth Symphony Orchestra (SYSO), and more. In these events, she has performed in masterclasses with Robert and Laura Chen, Liba Shacht, John Heffernan, Almita Vamos, and David Taylor.

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     During her musical journey, Emily studied the cello with Christina Dickenson and Emily Mantell. She also became a member of the Honors Choir at Argo Community High School during her senior year, earning a superior award for her solo at the solo and ensemble contest. She helped teach the beginning band class while taking up the French horn and flute herself. She occasionally performs for hospital patients through Sharing Notes as well.

 

Emily discovered an unconditional love and passion for music theory and analysis in her undergraduate program. She conducted her first research project on Aural Skills pedagogy in 2021, wrote her own music theory curriculum, and co-founded/co-hosted The Theory Club Podcast in April 2021-June 2022 for 4 seasons. The podcast held discussions of music theory and musicology on repertoire, research, featured guests, and more. Emily marketed their Instagram page as well. She currently co-hosts Dissonant Dialogues: Challenges in Classical Music with colleague Claire Barber where they discuss issues, abuse, and survival tips in the classical music field. Emily is marketing their content on the dissonantdialogues socials.

 

     Emily's heart lays deep in her private lesson instruction. She has been teaching private lessons since 2019. She strives to provide a nurturing multimodal learning environment for her students, guiding them continuously towards reaching high goals. She brings her love of music theory to the private lesson space by connecting theoretical terms early on. She taught private violin, viola, cello, and music theory lessons through the Justice Park District and the Above & Beyond Music Store for 3 years until moving to Chicago. She taught the Incredible Opportunity Program (IOP) violin group class 2022-2023 in Suburban Youth Symphony Orchestras (SYSO). She also taught on the faculty of Through the Staff for 4 years until May 2024. She currently manages her private and online lesson studio of 15 students while managing her double degree program. She has a passion for studying learning disabilities and trauma-informed education as well, which can be found in the research section of her website.

 

Emily is wrapping up her final semester in her undergraduate program at her student teaching placements. She has big plans for her future as she is currently writing her first book and striving towards becoming an orchestra director, teaching private violin, cello, and viola lessons, tutoring music theory, and performing in well-known orchestras in the Chicagoland area.