Emily Bear / Pianist / Composer

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Emily Bear is 9 years old and began piano studies at the age of five with Emilio del Rosario at The Music Institute of Chicago. She currently studies classical piano with Mary Sauer, Principal Keyboardist for the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and jazz improvisation with Alan Swain. Additional mentors include Yoheved Kaplinsky, head of the Juilliard Piano Department and Frank Kimbrough for Jazz, also at Juilliard. Emily is equally comfortable playing jazz, classical, or her own compositions.

Emily made her professional debut performing a solo concert at the Ravinia Music Festival in July of 2007, when she was five years old. She played a solo 40 minute program mixing classical, jazz, and her own pieces. She is the youngest performer in Ravinia’s more than 100 year history. She was asked back to perform solo concerts in 2008 and 2009 as well.

She most recently made her Carnegie Hall, debut, performing original music solo, and with orchestra, including the world premiere of her composition, "Peace - we are the future" performed onstage with 110 piece orchestra, 220 member chorus, R&B soloists and Emily on piano.

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On March 24th, 2008, Emily, age 6, was invited to perform at The White House for the President and Mrs. Bush and 400 guests. She performed a 30 minute solo concert mixing jazz and her original compositions.

At age six, Emily was a recipient of the 2008 ASCAP Morton Gould Young Composer Competition Award for her original song “Northern Lights.” She was asked to perform at the awards ceremony in New York City and was invited to perform her winning song again for a performance at Jazz at Lincoln Center.

Emily received national attention when she was a featured guest on The Ellen Degeneres Show. She appeared on the show six times in two years, performing an original song for each appearance. Recently Emily was featured on Dancing with the Stars, performing "Tutti Frutti" live with the orchestra.

Emily made her classical orchestral debut at age seven, performing Mozart’s Piano Concerto, no. 23, k488 with the Rockford Symphony Orchestra and then again with the Champaign-Urbana Symphony.

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This past summer, Emily made her international debut, performing 2 solo recitals at the Asissi of The World Festival in Umbria, Italy. and a solo concert in Hangzhou, China. This summer she will be presented by Quincy Jones to perform at the 45th annual Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland

At age 6, Emily made her orchestral debut in front of a capacity audience performing her original song, “The Love in Us” with members of the Orlando Symphony Orchestra. Emily also performed at Noche de Ninos, a gala for Los Angeles Children’s Hospital, hosted by Jennifer Lopez, Warren Beatty, Annette Benning, Arnold Schwarzengger, and Jewel, honoring Jamie Lee Curtis. Emily recently was featured at The Noble Awards at The Beverly Hilton in Los Angeles, a new awards show honoring 15 charities, produced by Michael Seligman, honoring Morgan Freeman.

Steinway and Sons invited Emily to perform a solo concert at the Chicago film premier of the documentary film "Note by Note: the Making of Steinway L1037". She performed the concert on the actual piano built in the movie. She performed at a 2nd screening of the film also having the honor of playing on the special Steinway piano. Emily was also featured on the WFMT Radio Show, Introductions, performing a solo 45 minute live concert.



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This past fall, Emily was featured in the September/October back to school issue of American Girl Magazine and Hal Leonards's Music Express Magazine. She was also featured in international periodicals including: Austria, Switzerland, China and Australia.

Emily has recorded five CD’s of original music: Five Years Wise, The Love In Us, Once Upon A Wish, Always True and most recently, Hope. Emily has produced three sheet music songbooks which are distributed internationally by Hal Leonard Publishing. Emily is the youngest composer to work with Hal Leonard. Profits from each of her CD’s and songbooks are donated to the following charities: Susan G. Komen for The Cure, UNICEF, Ronald McDonald House Charities, and The Children’s Hospitals of Los Angeles and Chicago. She is a member of ASCAP, SAG, and AFTRA.