20 year-old violinist Ella Eom was born in South Korea and moved to Palisades Park, New Jersey at the age of 6. She attended the Juilliard School’s Pre-College from 2019 to 2024 where she studied under Elizabeth Chang, and she is currently attending both Columbia University and The Juilliard School, where she is studying under Laurie Smukler.

As a soloist, Ella garnered top prizes at local and international competitions, such as the first prizes at the 2021 IGMC, the 2021 Bravura Philharmonic Concerto Competition, the 2023 Adelphi Young Artists Competition in senior division, second place in the strings division at the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra Young Artist Competition, a semifinalist in the Stulberg International String Competition 2023, and was a 2024 YoungArts Winner. She attended Kneisel Hall Chamber Music Festival in the summer of 2025 and will be returning in 2026. She has appeared as a soloist with the Bravura Philharmonic Orchestra, the Adelphi Orchestra, and the Broadway Bach Ensemble. 

Ella is an avid chamber musician as well, and is one of the violinists of the FaMa Quartet, which won 2nd place in the 2022 Coltman Chamber Music Competition junior division and won the Gold Medal at the 2023 Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition junior strings division. FaMa was also a part of NPR’s “From the Top” in 2023, where they shared their experiences of performing and competing as a group with members from different states. The quartet has also performed for various community outreach programs.

At Columbia, Ella is currently studying towards a degree in biology in the pre-health track. She is also part of the Yang Lab at Columbia University Department of Pathology and Cell Biology, where she is researching resistance mechanisms and treatments for lung cancer.