Violin Faculty; Co-Chair of Chamber Music; Coordinator of String Area
HCD Music, Instrumental Studies
The Hartt School, Hartt Community DivisionEngai@hartford.edu 860.768.4461 F 142
Education
GPD, The Hartt School, University of Hartford
MM, Oberlin College Conservatory
BM, McGill University
Licentiate, Royal Schools of Music
Emlyn Ngai follows an active career as both a modern and historical violinist, performing in Canada and the United States with the Adaskin String Trio. As concertmaster of Tempesta di Mare since 2001, he has performed in the US and Europe, most notably at the Mendelssohn-Remise Berlin, Magdeburger Telemann-Festtage 2022, Internationale Zerbst-Fasch Festtage 2023, Thomaskirche in Leipzig, Johann-Sebastian-Bach-Saal in Köthen, the Berliner Philharmoniker Kammermusiksaal, and the Chiesa della Pietà in Venice. With Tempesta he has recorded twelve releases on Chandos. Other recording credits include Centaur, MSR Classics, New World Records, and Telarc. His recordings for the label Musica Omnia have received acclaim in American Record Guide, BBC Music Magazine, Gramophone, and The Strad.
Emlyn holds degrees from McGill University, Oberlin College Conservatory, and The Hartt School. His teachers have included Frona Colquhoun, Sydney Humphreys, Thomas Williams, Eugene Drucker and Philip Setzer. While studying with Marilyn McDonald at Oberlin he won first prize on baroque violin in the 1995 Locatelli Concours Amsterdam, leading to performances in Bergamo and Berlin and a solo album with Vanguard Classics. Emlyn is passionate about teaching, having taught at Boston University, Mount Holyoke College, and McGill University as well as Amherst Early Music, Madison Early Music Festival, the Oberlin Baroque Performance Institute, the Summer Solstice Guitar Symposium, and The Hartt Suzuki Institute. As a supporter of upcoming talent, he has also served as a panelist for Astral Artists and ensemble judge for the 2024 Jurow International Harpsichord Competition.
Currently he teaches violin, orchestral repertoire, chamber music studies and performance practice at The Hartt School, where he also co-directs the Collegium Musicum and serves as co-Chair of the Chamber Music Department and Coordinator of Strings.