An adventurous musician, Emily Call’s recent performances have led her to play the violin with two bows, experiment with scordatura, throw ping pong balls, place mini alligator clips on her strings, and play into a fan.
photo by Rafael Hernandez
Emily (she/her) is a violinist dedicated to the performance of contemporary music, with a special interest in cultivating collaborative relationships with composers. She founding member of the Isaura String Quartet. Through performances with ISQ, she has worked closely with composers including Gloria Coates, Ulrich Krieger, David T. Little, Anne LeBaron, and Kitty Brazelton.
In addition to her playing with ISQ, Emily is a sought-after chamber musician who has performed with many of Southern California’s most exciting new music ensembles and organizations. She has performed in concerts with the Dog Star Orchestra, through the annual Dog Star Festival and at Monday Evening Concerts. She has also performed for the LA Phil’s Noon to Midnight series at Walt Disney Concert Hall, the Laguna Beach Music Festival, and Santa Ana Sites with modern music collective wild Up. Other performances include joining Wordless Music to perform live scores by Jon Brion (Punch Drunk Love) and Jonny Greenwood (Phantom Thread) with the respective composers in attendance, performing new chamber music with Now Hear Ensemble, Equal Sound, and San Diego New Music, and playing as a featured soloist with Synchromy.
Equally comfortable in the worlds of pop and indie rock, Emily has had the privilege of recording and performing with a diverse group of bands and songwriters. She is prominently featured on Geotic’s Traversa. Her playing is also heard on recent Baths records Romaplasm and Obsidian. She has also recorded and performed for artists including Angel Olsen, Baths, Michael Bublé, Craig Owens, Demi Lovato, Man Man, Sigur Rós, and more. Emily is also an occasional composer. Her music was featured in Retreat, a short film by Gary Mairs.
As an educator, Emily maintains an active private studio. She holds numerous roles with Elemental Music, a youth orchestra program based in Santa Monica. Emily also coaches in SMMUSD schools and previously taught beginning violin at the Crossroads School.
Emily splits her time between the east coast and west coast, but primarily lives in Los Angeles with her husband and frequent collaborator, composer John Eagle.
MFA CalArts, 2013. BA Bennington College, 2011.