Emily Whittaker is a freelance horn player and educator in the Chicagoland area.
Throughout her time in Chicago, Emily has played with many orchestras and ensembles, including the Chicago Symphony Orchestra (CSO), Music of the Baroque, Omaha Symphony Orchestra, Victoria Symphony Orchestra, Civic Symphony Orchestra, Dubuque Symphony Orchestra, and many more. In the summer, she has taken part in the Blackburn Music Academy of Festival Napa Valley and the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra Summer Institute. While at the Blackburn Music Academy, Emily studied under David Cooper (CSO principal horn) and has continued private lessons back in Chicago. Emily has also played in lessons and masterclasses for Denise Tryon, Dale Clevenger, William Vermeulen, Julie Landsman, Fergus McWilliam, Erik Ralske, Hugo Valverde, Thomas Jöstlein and Daniel Gingrich.
In December 2023, Emily was seen as a soloist with the Joliet Symphony Orchestra performing Horn Concerto No. 3 in Eb Major by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, and will be seen performing Horn Concerto No. 1 by Richard Strauss with the Kankakee Symphony Orchestra in April 2024.
Emily maintains a private horn studio for all ages from middle school and high school students to adults, and hosts horn studio recitals for her students regularly. In the summer of 2023, Emily was on faculty both teaching and performing at the Summer Music Society and Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp. She also presents masterclasses and clinics, as well as adjudicates solos and performances across the Chicago Metropolitan area. More information about her teaching can be found here.
Born and raised in Orillia, Ontario, Emily picked up the French horn when she was 17 years old. She began her formal horn studies at York University studying with James MacDonald before transferring to the University of Toronto where she studied with Gabriel Radford. She graduated with a Bachelor of Music in French Horn Performance and a minor in Indigenous Studies. She then earned her Masters of Music from DePaul University in Chicago, studying with James Smelser, and a Post-Master’s Performance Certificate at DePaul University studying with Oto Carrillo.
Away from music, Emily loves to run and spend time in the outdoors, and is a self-published author of two children’s books, Ted Loves to Sing and Ted Loves His Mask.