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Quoted by DMV Classical as “[having] a consistently lovely tone and [taking] her melodic twists and turns with stylish assurance,” and from The Washington Post’s opera critic, Michael Andor Brodeur, as “frequently catching my ears from the pit,” Emily Tsai is a world renowned orchestral, chamber musician, and educator. She is the Assistant Principal Oboe of the Washington National Opera and Kennedy Center Opera House Orchestra and can be seen playing regularly at the prestigious Kennedy Center in Washington, DC on opera, ballet, and musical theater productions. She is also on faculty at the University of Maryland School of Music.

Emily is also an MKI Artist as the oboist and touring director of the internationally renowned wind quintet, WindSync, gold medalist at the International Fischoff Competition, and medalist at the M-prize Chamber Arts Competition. She has performed with WindSync in prominent venues, such as Ravinia, IL, the Library of Congress, DC, the Grand Tetons Music Festival, WY, Strathmore, MD, and has taught artist residencies at many colleges and universities, including the Eastman School of Music, Northwestern University, Orchestra of the Americas, and New World Symphony.

She has made solo appearances with the Lafayette Symphony Orchestra, the River Oaks Chamber Orchestra, the Alba Music Festival Orchestra, the Paragon Philharmonia, the Amadeus Orchestra, and others. Besides WindSync, Emily has had the privilege of performing chamber music with such prominent musicians as Nathan Hughes, Frank Morelli, Clive Greensmith, Martin Chalifour, and Matthew Lipman.

Emily has been on a number of recorded albums and singles including WindSync’s most recent album release, All Worlds, All Times, which debuted at #2 on the Classical Billboard charts. Other recordings include WindSync’s Pulcinella Suite and D’amore Duo’s Behind the Moon, among others. She has also arranged and recorded many pieces for wind quintet and double reed choir. Most recently, she finished recording WindSync’s newest album, which will be released in 2024, at the famous Abbey Roads Studio in London, UK.

Emily began her musical studies at the age of four on the violin and started the oboe when she was ten. Her main teachers include Mark Hill, Richard Killmer, and Malcolm Smith. Emily received her Bachelor of Music degree in Oboe Performance, with a Performer’s Certificate and the Chamber Music Award, from the Eastman School of Music, and her Bachelor of Science degree in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology from the University of Rochester, graduating Magna Cum Laude. She received her Master of Music from the University of Maryland, where she was part of the Graduate Fellowship Quintet.

In her downtime, Emily has completed a number of half marathons, a full marathon, an Olympic triathlon, and a Tough Mudder, and can be found on the pickleball court many weekends with her husband, Karl. Inside, she can be found playing video games, and spoiling her two adorable cats, Xenia and Perch.

Emily is a Lorée Artist and plays on a Lorée Royal oboe and a Lorée English Horn. Follow her on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube, and visit her website for more information.