Emel Cubukcu, violin

Meet Emel

Emel performs on Show 475.

Emel Cubukcu (violin), 13, from La Jolla, California, goes to Muirlands Middle School and studies violin at California Institute of Music with Michael Tseitlin. She is the concertmaster of both San Diego Youth Symphony’s Sinfonia and Muirlands Middle School’s orchestra. She has won several local and international competitions including the International Academy of Music’s competition in Castelnuovo Di Garfagnana, Italy, Goodlin Scholarship Competition, and the San Diego MTAC Concerto Competition, performing two concerts of Mendelssohn violin concerto as a soloist with the Miracosta College Symphony Orchestra. She participated in the Euroarts Festival in Szczecin, Poland, where she performed Vivaldi Winter as a soloist with an orchestra from University of the Arts, Berlin.

Emel finds community engagement and outreach extremely rewarding. She is also a member of Song4smiles, a group of student musicians who aim to inspire the community through music and compassion. In her free time, she likes traveling, hiking, and hanging out with her two adorable cats, who enjoy listening to her practicing.