Emad Zolfaghari (second prize) is 18 years old and is based in Toronto. He was accepted into the Curtis Institute of Music at age 16, where he currently studies with Hsin-Yun Huang and Misha Amory. Emad has been the recipient of many prestigious awards, including top prizes at the Ronald Sachs International Music Competition, Shean Strings Competition and OMNI Music Competitions. He has appeared as a soloist with several major symphony orchestras, most recently with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra and with the Oakville Chamber Orchestra. He will also be a guest soloist with l’Orchestre Metropolitain in Maison Symphonique twice and with the Guelph Symphony Orchestra in the 2022–2023 season. In 2018 Emad was accepted into the Phil and Eli Taylor Performance Academy for Young Artists on full scholarship where he studied with Theresa Rudolph. He was also a member of the Toronto Symphony Youth Orchestra, where he often performed as principal viola. Emad has been accepted as a student at the Morningside Music Bridge international summer festival on full scholarship since 2019, attended the 10th Center Stage Strings festival in summer of 2020 on full scholarship, and attended the Perlman Music Program in summer of 2022.