Featuring Senior Violin Fellow Lily Yoshihara!

While Violin Fellow Lily Yoshihara came to CMPI quite late – she only participated in the program during her senior year – she most certainly reaped all its benefits. From participating in the Equity Arc Pathways Orchestra, to masterclasses, recitals, and mock auditions, she has grown by leaps and bounds.

Lily started violin at age five with Taka Matsunaga at the Midwest Conservatory of Music and continues to study with him. She also added a second teacher, Bernardo Arias, in 2020. Lily found studying with two teachers to be very beneficial, especially while preparing for college auditions, since she had so much repertoire to learn.

She credits CMPI with helping her to prepare for those critical college auditions. “Going into my senior year, I was the most nervous about live auditions and playing for a faculty panel. I always imagined February to be a month filled with anxiety and auditions. Thankfully, CMPI has helped me become comfortable with playing under pressure.” Masterclasses, recitals, and mock auditions certainly improved her comfort level. “With each performance, I became more comfortable with performing and working through my nerves. It was amazing to feel prepared to the max and get excited to visit schools and meet professors.”

She found recording prescreens to be the most challenging part of the college application process. She recommends starting recording early and planning what to record in each session. “Something my CMPI mentor shared with me (thanks Heather!) is to schedule multiple recording sessions. Don’t try to record everything in one day since it’s exhausting and stressful. Knowing you have another day to record if something doesn’t work out alleviates excess stress.”

Lily also recommends tuning into livestreams or YouTube recordings of concerts at colleges and conservatories you may be interested in. As she states, “Getting the chance to see these performances gives a good idea of the overall level of the students.”

Recently, Lily participated in the Equity Arc Pathways Orchestra, held this year in Chicago in conjunction with the Civic Orchestra and Chicago Symphony Orchestra. The experience was extremely meaningful for her. “Every so often I have these experiences that remind me why I love music, and participating in Equity Arc’s Pathways Orchestra was one of those moments. I genuinely enjoyed every moment of rehearsal and performing at Symphony Center, but the highlight was the people I met. I was able to connect with so many talented musicians in such a short amount of time, and I can only hope that I get to play with them again in the future.”

A strong orchestral musician, Lily has also been a member of the Midwest Philharmonic Orchestra since 2013 and the Midwest Chamber Orchestra since 2019. She has participated in the District 7 ILMEA orchestra since her freshman year and the All-State Honors orchestra since her sophomore year. She had the honor of being the concertmaster of the All-State Honors Orchestra this year. Other accomplishments include being selected as a finalist for From the Top’s Learning and Media Lab Fellowship. Coming up in May she will be recording for WFMT’s Introductions.

Now that auditions are over, Lily is back to one of her favorite pastimes – reading. Her favorite author is V. E. Schwab, and she states that any book written by her is an automatic favorite. Some of her absolute favorites include Vicious by V. E. Schwab and The Secret History by Donna Tartt.

After graduating, Lily is heading off to Sewanee Music Festival for a summer of orchestral training. In the fall, she plans on pursuing a dual degree in violin performance and computer science. Her goal is to have a career as an orchestral musician, and she hopes that maybe one day she can return to Chicago to play in the Civic Orchestra.