Emily Cantrell, Storyteller

EMILY CANTRELL, BM Viola Performance, UMD School of Music

I've been studying a musical instrument since I was two-and-a-half, and studying viola since I was 10. So going on 12 years I’ve really been preparing for a life as a performer.

Everyone in the audience, at least in my experience, wants you to do well. They’re there to see a performance that they can connect to and there’s this indescribable energy emanating from them.

Just being on stage to perform has been one of the most moving experiences for me. All this work gets put into it then you get up there and you have one shot at it. Everyone in the audience, at least in my experience, wants you to do well. They’re there to see a performance that they can connect to and there’s this indescribable energy emanating from them.

If you can capture that, it’s like a runner’s high -- just a wave you ride on.