- Hometown:
- Nedlands, Australia
Biography
Emily is the first Wells Scholar from St. Hilda’s Anglican School for Girls in Mosman Park, Australia, where she was the top student across all subjects. In the state of Western Australia, she ranked first out of 3,000 students in English literature, second in music, third in modern history, and sixth across all subjects. She was also recognized for her accomplishments in the Australian Chemistry and Mathematics Olympiads and the Western Australian Young Writers’ Competition. She describes music as her greatest love and the spark that ignited her enthusiasm for her academic studies, especially the arts and humanities with opera and literature propelling her to study French and German. She attended music academies in France, Austria, and England; has performed widely throughout Australia; and at 15 was the youngest person ever to receive the Fellowship Diploma, the highest award of the Australian Music Examination Board. She has organized and given three solo recitals, contributing the proceeds to charities, including one that supports disadvantaged young people in Northern Cambodia.
Inspired by Mother Teresa’s words, “If you cannot feed 100 people, then just feed one,” she sees music as the way she can contribute beauty to people’s lives even if the world’s problems seem overwhelming. She plans to major in violin performance.
She will hold an Alice Adele Freese and the Peggy Newton Stevenson scholarships in the Wells Scholars Program.