Emma Barnett

While at Cresskill High School, Emma was very active in the Music Department as both a singer and instrumentalist. She spent her four years of high school dedicated to both the Choir and the CHS Orchestra where she followed her passion of playing the violin and viola. She also played in a student-run String Trio during high school. Outside of school, Emma spent her free time taking private lessons and group-performance classes for classical violin as well as performing with the Thurnauer Symphony Orchestra.

After graduating from CHS, Emma went on to the Barnard College of Columbia University where she is now majoring in Political Science with a minor is Psychology. (Class of 2019) She is also an Athena Leadership Scholar at Barnard and is in the Music Performance Program there. Throughout her time at Barnard, Emma has had the opportunity to complete a number of different internships including ones with NBC, CNN, and NY1. She has also had the fortunate ability to work with programs around the world which she is incredibly thankful for. Her career has allowed her to work in Israel with a recent startup called “Playbuzz”, on the election campaign for New Zealand Prime Minister, Jacinda Ardern, in Copenhagen, writing for the Copenhagen Post, and in Korea for NBC at the Olympics.

Despite her success as a journalist and in political science, Emma continues to pursue her passion for music, her love of which continues to grow every day. As a part of the Columbia Music Performance Program and a member of the Columbia University Orchestra, Emma has been given the great opportunity of being able to perform twice a semester in venues such as Symphony Space and Lincoln Center. She participated in chamber music, played in the pits of various musicals, and has continued private lesson throughout college. Emma also uses her talents to spread joy and music in both her community and other communities around the world. Alongside her work at the annual Elizabeth Morrow Summer String Festival, Emma has had the chance to perform at the Tel Aviv Opera house with Keshet Eilon in Israel as well as play music for kids with cancer in a hospital in Tel Aviv that treats children from all regions of the middle east. Also in her international ventures, Emma had the chance to play violin for the Orchestra Wellington in New Zealand and study at the Royal Danish Academy of Music in Copenhagen.

Out of her entire high school experience, Emma’s favorite memory remains the simple ability she had to play music every day with the music department and friends. She acknowledges how lucky she was to have had such great music teachers who not only taught and supported her, but left her with a powerful message she will never forget: “Music is a powerful, universal language and to be able to make music every single day is a gift!”