Emily Onderdonk, a native of San Francisco, received her Bachelor's and Master's degrees at the Manhattan School of Music, and continued with post-graduate studies at Boston University and the New England Conservatory of Music. Her teachers include Raphael Bronstein, James Buswell, Daniel Kobialka, and Karen Tuttle.

While working on her master’s degree, Ms. Onderdonk won the principal viola position and went on tour with the New York City Opera National Company.  Since then, she has performed as principal violist with numerous orchestras around the country including the Santa Fe Pro Arte Chamber Orchestra in New Mexico, the Berkeley Symphony in California, and the Reno Philharmonic in Nevada.  In 1995, Ms. Onderdonk began a two-year stint as principal violist with the Lyon National Opera in France, touring with the company to Paris, London and Vienna and recording CDs of Offenbach, Donizetti, Werther, Massenet and Puccini. In addition, she has performed with the New York Philharmonic, the New Jersey Symphony, the San Francisco Symphony and the San Francisco Opera.  As a proponent of contemporary music for over 25 years, Ms. Onderdonk has played with such ensembles as Earplay in the San Francisco Bay Area and the Group for Contemporary Music in New York City.  Also an avid supporter of children’s music education, Ms. Onderdonk continues to perform yearly in schools, community centers and gyms – developing and performing interactive concerts for thousands of children across the western states. As a seasoned chamber musician she has appeared with chamber ensembles in New York, California, Texas, New Mexico, Colorado, Wyoming, Mexico, Brazil, and Argentina. 

Most recently, Ms. Onderdonk is performing and touring with her eclectic (musically) and spirited (personally) group Quartet San Francisco, which is currently in residence at Mills College.   As a result of winning the Grand Prize at the 2004 International Tango Competition in NYC, the quartet recently completed a trip to Buenos Aires, where they gave two standing-room-only performances of tango and jazz works.  Ms. Onderdonk often records pop and movie soundtracks, and plays for the San Francisco dates of many touring Broadway musicals. Ms. Onderdonk loves the outdoors, cherishes all animals and is especially enamored of fine chocolates.