Emma McAllister grew up in Grass Valley, in Northern California, the daughter of two professional musicians and music teachers. She has been playing violin since the age of three and piano since age five, and throughout her childhood and teen years, participated in a number of youth orchestras and summer chamber music workshops. Emma has almost ten years of experience teaching both in studios and privately in Northern and Southern California, and has taught children and adults from ages 2 to 76.
Emma decided to commit herself to life as a professional violinist and music teacher at the age of 15, and in an effort to spend more time practicing, she tested out of high school and began attending community college at the age of 16. The flexible schedule of college allowed her to start teaching at two music studios as well as privately, and she also started playing in Auburn Symphony and the CSU Sacramento symphony orchestra. During this time, Emma studied under Richard Altenbach, a renowned violinist of the LA studio recording industry and the LA Chamber Orchestra.
Emma moved to Southern California in 2012, to attend the Bob Cole Conservatory of Music at CSU Long Beach, where she earned her Bachelor of Music, Violin Performance degree. In her senior year, Emma began studying with Moni Simeonov, who had previously served as teaching assistant to Midori Goto at USC. Emma decided to stay at the Bob Cole Conservatory to earn her Master's degree in violin performance, to continue studying with Professor Simeonov, and take occasional lessons and master classes with Midori Goto.
In 2015, Emma successfully auditioned into three prestigious pre-professional orchestras: the Young Artists Symphony Orchestra of Los Angeles, the Young Musicians' Foundation Debut Orchestra, and the American Youth Symphony. During her time at CSULB, Emma served as concertmaster of both the opera orchestra and the symphony orchestra, and was chosen by Midori Goto to play on one of the violins loaned to students by a private collection of fine instruments. Emma has also been active in the TV, film, and recording industry. She can be seen playing on the Ellen Show with the band Bastille, (Season 12, Episode 8), the TV special AFI Lifetime Achievement Award for John Williams, conducted by LA Phil's Gustavo Dudamel, the pilot episode of Versace: An American Crime Story (airing in 2018), as well as several music videos and various other recordings.
Emma graduated with her Master's Degree in Violin Performance in the spring of 2017.