Eslin McKay

Eslin McKay first picked up a violin at the age of three beginning her musical education through the Suzuki method. She has since graduated with Honours in Violin Performance from the University of Toronto where she studied with Annalee Patipatanikoon. Upon graduation in 2013, she was the recipient of the James Craig Opera Orchestra Award for musicianship and opera orchestra excellence.

Eslin has been involved with numerous orchestras, touring Canada as a member of the  National Youth Orchestra of Canada as well as performing with the Thunder Bay Symphony Orchestra and the Brantford Symphony Orchestra. She is active in the Toronto music scene as a freelance violinist, performing at a variety of venues and in diverse musical groups including; folk, jazz, pop, classical and new music ensembles.  She is a member of a singer-songwriter folk band that recently toured the East Coast of Canada promoting their EP, and also toured Europe as a member of a Toronto based orchestral post rock/post black metal band.

In 2007 Eslin was the winner of the Kitchener Waterloo Symphony Youth Orchestra Concerto Competition and performed with the orchestra as well as having been a soloist in the Brantford Music Club Young Artist Series. Eslin is a member of the Suzuki Association of the Americas having trained with Karen-Michele Kimmett.  She has also completed her Suzuki Early Childhood Education Training (SECE) with Dorothy and Sharon Jones.