When Emel Cubukcu was 5, her mother encouraged her to learn a musical instrument. Little did she know that within seven years, she’d pick up several awards and other accolades as a violinist.
“There was this piece called Mendelssohn Violin Concerto, which I really liked when I was younger and wanted to play it,” said Emel, who now attends Muirlands Middle School in La Jolla. “And I actually won a competition this year by playing it.”
That was the Music Teachers’ Association of California San Diego Concerto Competition in February, where Emel placed first in her division of string players through age 13.
Then she was tapped to play with the MiraCosta College Symphony Orchestra in May in Oceanside.
In front of a crowd estimated at 200 people, Emel performed a 15-minute piece with the orchestra behind her. She described it as “a once-in-a-lifetime experience.”
Leading up to the performance, she and conductor Branden Muresan had four practices on top of her usual violin-playing inside and outside the classroom.
Despite the big leap into collegiate-level playing, Emel said she wasn’t intimidated by the spotlight. During the performance, she would glance toward the lights and the back of the concert hall to ease any nervousness.
“I was pretty confident, honestly,” she said. “I wasn’t really nervous because I knew I’d practiced this piece for a long time. I had everything ready and I was just really excited to play with the orchestra.”
“When I’m playing the concerto, I kind of zone out,” she added. “There were so many people in the audience … but when I’m playing that concerto, there’s a story going on in my mind. Each musical phrase has a different emotion associated with it.”
Watching from the audience, Emel’s mother, Duygu Kuzum, saw her exude confidence in a way she felt was well beyond her years.
“She’s my child [and] I know her really well, but she actually transformed into an … unexpectedly professional musician on the stage,” Kuzum said.
Soon after her MiraCosta performance, Emel — who also attended La Jolla’s Torrey Pines Elementary School — won first place in the junior instrumental category of the H.B. Goodlin Scholarship Competition. From among 97 students across five divisions, she was one of four to take home a $1,000 prize.
Emel estimates she spends about two hours a day practicing violin, whether through an elective course at Muirlands or private lessons from Michael Tseitlin of the California Institute of Music in San Diego.
She also is concertmaster of Muirlands Middle School’s orchestra and assistant principal chair of San Diego Youth Symphony’s Sinfonia.
And that’s not all. In her free time, she and a piano-playing friend go to special-education schools to play for children.
To her daughter’s musical ambitions, Kuzum drives her to practices, music-related events and more three to five times a week.
When Emel isn’t performing in front of large crowds or classrooms, Kuzum and the family’s two cats form a mini audience.
“Practicing is not like doing homework for her,” Kuzum said. “She has joy in it. If there’s some part of your life that brings you joy, I think it should continue forever.”
Emel is still figuring out her future ambitions, but she sees music as a long-term interest.
“I definitely want to pursue music [and] I’m definitely going to keep it with me for the rest of my life,” she said.
Outside of music, Emel said she enjoys traveling, hanging out with friends, playing pickleball and spending time with her cats. ♦
